Shadow's... and Sonic's Adventure, 2!
by Kyle Gon Jinn
Summary: Join Sonic the Hedgehog, 'Tails' Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, Rouge the Bat, Dr. Eggman and the elusive Shadow in this written adaption of Sonic Adventure 2. No Chao, no A ranks, just plain super sonic adventure.
1. The beginning

sa2

**Prologue**

The pain and humiliation of it all still sat in his chest. Dr. Robotnik, more recently come to be known as Eggman to those that would dare taunt him, sat in his chair in his headquarters in Robotropolis, brooding. "It was such a perfect plan!" he wailed to nobody in particular, thinking back to the events that had occurred several months ago, around the city of Station Square. Chaos, the watery monster he had freed from the Master Emerald that Knuckles the Echidna guarded so passionately, was his partner in crime, and they had vowed to destroy the city together. 'But that fool, Sonic…' The Eggman ground his teeth together. Even just the thought of the blue hedgehog that had been his enemy for ten long years was enough to infuriate him. "That fool, Sonic," he spluttered, "Turned him against me! If not for him, then I would have given the final Chaos Emerald to Chaos, and our takeover would have happened!" Instead, Perfect Chaos had declared war on all the creatures of Mobius, including him! The memory was still fresh of his second Egg Carrier being shot out of sky by Chaos' laser blast, and going down in a burning mass into the ocean… He had barely escaped from the inferno in his hovercraft, and had been just in time to see Chaos defeated at the hands of Super Sonic. Robotnik jumped to his feet, having reached his anger peak (a daily occurrence for him). He had been humiliated, taunted, and almost killed in that unfortunate incident. "AND IT'S ALL THE HEDGEHOG'S FAULT!" he bellowed. Well, Robotnik had had enough. He had been stopped for the last time. "This time…" he vowed, "This time, Sonic will meet his doom!" 

The evil doctor strode to his super computer and started going through file after corrupted file. His face twisted into a frown as he recalled defeat after defeat from that pesky rodent. The Death Egg, the Egg Carrier… both works of pure art, made from the wonder of modern technology, and both destroyed by Sonic and his foolhardy companions. An idea came to him. 'Maybe,' he pondered silently, 'maybe that saying's true – they just don't make 'em like they used to.' If that was indeed the case, then perhaps the key to defeating his arch nemesis wasn't with modern technology, and all the glories it had seen destroyed, but lay in the past. Another thought occurred to him – his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, had been the leading scientist of his time. Maybe he had created something that would lead to Sonic's demise? 

Excited, Robotnik immediately ran a search on the late Professor's work. It wasn't long before he found a file which contained his grandfather's diary, and he quickly scrolled through it, chuckling at his own genius. Suddenly, something caught his attention which brought his chuckling to a halt. Interested, he leaned in closer to the screen in front of him. "Project Shadow," he mused. "A top secret military weapon sealed, locked away, and heavily guarded on an abandoned isle known as 'Prison Island.'" The doctor cackled. "Looks like the military stopped the research because they feared it! Pathetic fools!" He started running a search on any information regarding Prison Island. He needed to learn of its location, and quickly. His grandfather had died long ago – fifty years, if he recalled correctly – so it was his right to inherit Project Shadow, and use it however he saw fit. He turned an eye to the hangar across the street, where his hovercraft currently waited. Looks like he was going to find out if the new hardware he'd installed was of any use… 

**Chapter 1 – The story begins, but who's gonna win?** 

Dr. Robotnik laughed maniacally as the cannon of his craft fired rapidly, leaving the last of the robots guarding the area lying on the floor in mangled, sparking pieces. "That was too easy!" he cried, piloting his newest toy forward towards a massive steel door. The Eggmobile, as he had dubbed it, was built off his primary hovercraft, as most of his weapons of war were. This version of it had two large steel legs built into it, one on each side, and boasted a large cannon on the side, and a laser blaster mounted on the rear of the craft. A red armour plate was welded onto the front, just below the windshield. All in all, it was quite a formidable machine. 

Robotnik watched the panel on the door eagerly as the blinking red and green lights one by one changed to a light blue, and the doors slowly slid open. Piloting his ship forward into the next room, he stopped at a computer console. "So this is the military's top secret weapon?" he asked the walls as he started tapping away at the keyboard. "It's a lot smaller than I imagined." That was a disappointment to him – it was no secret that the doctor liked his weapons big and powerful. A message flashed up on the screen. "Enter user data…" Robotnik read aloud. "Aah, enter password. Password is… MA-RI-A," he typed, nodding in satisfaction as the screen flashed green, and a message flashed saying, 'Access granted.'   
"Maria!" Robotnik grinned as he reached behind him and pulled out a gemstone that shined with a grey glow. "Now all I have to do is insert the Chaos Emerald into the console." The scientist did so, smirking to himself as he remembered how he had stolen it from under Sonic's nose. The disastrous events at Station Square hadn't been a total waste of his time and resources. 

The whirring of mechanism sounded as a wide abyss opened up in front of the computer. The Eggmobile jumped into it without hesitation as a large pillar rose up out of the floor, high into the air. 'Might as well have stayed where I was,' Robotnik thought to himself, looking up at the top of the pillar to see a creature uncurling itself out of a ball… a sickeningly familiar figure – Robotnik recognized the hedgehog spines immediately. 

"Is that you, Sonic?!?" he growled. "Are you trying to ruin my plans AGAIN?!?" The doctor paused as the creature stood and he got a better look at it. It was indeed a hedgehog, but not the one he had thought. This one had black fur, with a red stripe on each of his spines, arms and legs. The stripe on his top spine came down to his forehead. He wore white gloves, which had yellow, black and red tags on the ends, and white and black shoes, also with yellow, black and red tags. The sneakers had some sort of red lining on the bottom, for what purpose the doctor couldn't figure out. The hedgehog had a white tuft of chest hair and piercing red eyes, but the thing that really caught Robotnik's attention were the spines – they were not pointed downwards, in the style they were with most hedgehogs, but rather upwards, pointing towards the sky. Robotnik had only seen such a thing before in the case of Super Sonic, who radiated such energy that they were pointed upwards by static electricity. If this hedgehog also had upwards turned spines, then either he had a bad stylist, or he was incredibly powerful too. 

"You're not Sonic!" Robotnik gaped. "This is impossible!"   
"My name… is Shadow," the hedgehog announced, stretching. He had remained motionless for quite some time. "Since you were so kind to release me, my master, I will grant you one wish."   
The Eggman was intrigued, but his attention went elsewhere as an alarm started blaring. "What now?" he complained.   
The hedgehog who had identified himself as Shadow smiled, knowing the siren's meaning and what would happen next. 'Time to get some exercise,' he thought to himself as he leapt into the air, light coming from the bottom of his shoes. Robotnik watched on in awe. Did he have rockets built into his sneakers? No, because he quickly sank to the floor beside the computer that had been used to free him. "Behold the true power I possess!" he cried, spinning in a circle as he dropped, so fast that he flashed with a pale blue light for a second. Robotnik activated his jet booster and rose out of the pit. He wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he knew that he would want to see it. 

*****

Shadow saw the Eggmobile land back on the platform out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was focused on the machine that had just entered the room. It was a lot like the machine that was piloted by the man who had released him. Walked on two large legs, had a cannon at the front, and appeared to have a thruster engine which would enable it to fly. 'Standard G.U.N. attack unit,' he thought, staring up at the contraption. He noticed that there had been an upgrade to the series though, as he noticed the large boxes seated on the rear of the vehicle. 'Missiles,' he realized. 'Heat seekers, most likely.' Shadow shrugged to himself. No matter. It was going down anyway. 

"This is Scorpion troop B-3X Hotshot," reported the pilot. "I have located the suspect, and will proceed to take him down."   
"Copy that," came a voice over the radio, then Hotshot quickly leapt into the air. Not quick enough though – while he had been fiddling with the radio, Shadow had also taken to the air, curled into a ball, and attacked the cockpit with his jagged spines. The pilot almost leapt out of his seat in surprise and fright – the windshield looked like a tree trunk had fallen on top of it! Hotshot quickly rose to maximum height and flew to the opposite side of the room, only a few metres away from Robotnik. The doctor was tempted to train his laser blaster on the machine, but decided against it. He wanted to see what Shadow was capable of. 

He was not disappointed. 

Hotshot turned and flew towards Shadow, machine gun blasting. Shadow simply moved out of the way though, not running so much as he was… skating! Now Robotnik identified the light he had seen from the bottom of Shadow's sneakers – "Nitrium," he muttered. It slicked the ground that he trod upon, making it possible for him to skate on pretty much any surface. 'Quite a clever design,' the doctor noted. Hotshot made another approach, but Shadow had already jumped to the top of a pile of boxes, so that with another jump he was able to deliver another blow to the cockpit of the beast. The machine gun's circuits shorted out. The pilot grimaced, then flipped a switch. Shadow looked up just in time to see the tip of the cannon start to glow, building up energy. Shadow knew what that meant, and started skating across the room. The pilot pulled at the joystick, moving to keep the crosshairs on the speedy hedgehog. Once the cannon had enough energy, he fired. But Shadow jumped again, and this time when he curled into a ball, he was surrounded by a yellow glow and sped at the cockpit, though he hadn't been quite facing it. Robotnik knew that move – he had felt it hit his contraptions many a time by Sonic. A homing attack. Strange… Sonic's homing attack was blue, like he was, yet Shadow's was yellow. He must wield some serious power! Shadow resembled a bolt of lightning as he hit the cockpit for the third time. The pilot felt like he'd been struck by lightning too, as system after system started losing power. He crashed to the ground, unable to fly any longer. Only one option left then. His orders had been to subdue the hedgehog, but if it came down to his life or his opponent's, then he had no choice. The pilot armed the missiles. 

Shadow saw the boxes open up and knew what was coming, thus he was prepared and already skating to the opposite end of the room when the missiles started launching. Just as he'd suspected, they were heat seekers, and homed in on him. "Well then," he yelled, "Why not pick on a hotter tamale?" He sped under them as they headed in his direction – they were fast, but not as fast as him - and dealt a fourth and final blow to the Hotshot. The machine didn't react well to this; it crumpled to its knees and a small fire started in the engines. "He's too strong!" the pilot screamed, trying to activate the emergency fire extinguishers. But before he had a chance, the missiles struck. 

*****

Shadow skidded to a stop in front of the burning heap. "Pathetic human," he smirked. The clapping of hands caught his attention, and he turned to see Robotnik applauding him. "Dr. Ivo Robotnik is impressed!" he smiled. "Destroying that guard robot was spectacular!"   
Shadow turned to admire his handiwork. "Nothing to it," he shrugged.   
"So Shadow, you are the secret weapon! But what did you mean when you said you would grant me a wish?" Robotnik asked.   
Shadow glanced around at him as he started walking towards the exit. "Bring more Chaos Emeralds," he replied.   
"Shadow wait!" the doctor called desperately. He couldn't just let Shadow up and leave!   
Shadow paused for a moment, then answered, "I'll be waiting for you. In the central control room aboard the space colony ARK."   
"ARK?" Robotnik repeated. But Shadow had already left. He frowned slightly and moved over to the computer, removing the grey Chaos Emerald from within. More Chaos Emeralds? That would require some work. Tapping away at the keyboard on his own vessel, he wondered how quickly it would locate any of the other six jewels that Shadow wanted… 

**Chapter 2 – Look what's happened, my emerald's gone!** 

Much later that same dark night… or rather early the next morning, Knuckles the Echidna was roused from his sleep by a rumbling vibration that rocked all of the Floating Island. Knuckles sat up in his bed, unsure of what was going on at first. But after a minute he realized that he knew that sinking feeling – the Floating Island was falling from the sky! Within seconds, it landed in the ocean, sending out a tidal wave in all directions. Only the power of the super emeralds kept the isle from sinking beneath the waves. In a panic, he pulled his shoes on and headed for the Master Emerald shrine at a sprint. Something must have happened to it… AGAIN! Being the guardian of the Floating Island wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Knuckles had had to fend off attacks on the Master Emerald more times than he could remember. The most recent one had been when Chaos had broken free of it. That had been a pain – he'd had to search all over the place to recover the shards that had gone flying in all directions. But he'd managed to restore the Master Emerald anyway… only for something disastrous to happen yet again, it seemed. He glided through the air and landed just in front of the steps that led up to the shrine of the Master Emerald. 

The shrine was empty – the place where the Master Emerald usually sat was now occupied by a large hole, shaped like a funnel. The emerald was a perfect fit… when it was there. Knuckles looked around warily. This was not a good thing to wake up to. Where was Charmy? He was supposed to be guarding the emerald tonight! He and the Chaotix had a schedule for guarding the shrine. Mondays and Fridays it was Knuckles' job, Tuesdays were assigned to Mighty, Vector had Thursdays, Ray Saturdays… and Charmy was supposed to be on guard on Sunday nights. But he was nowhere in sight… 

A low moan was detected by Knuckles' sharp ears, and he swiveled around. There, in the soft grass he saw the young bee, who was now sitting up and rubbing his head, extended to his full size. Charmy usually stayed regular insect size, which he called, "Flight Mode," but at his true height he came up to Knuckles' chest. The echidna ran over to his friend and knelt down to look him over. "Are you okay, Charmy?" he asked, concerned for his pal's welfare.   
Charmy nodded and shook his head, still slightly dazed. "I'm okay Knux. It took me by complete surprise though…"   
"What?" Knuckles asked, offering his hand. "What happened? Who did this?"   
Charmy accepted the offer and let Knuckles pull him to his feet. "It was a bat!" he said, the fright still visible in his eyes. "She swooped out of the sky and plucked the emerald out! I tried to stop her, but she swung her arm around and the emerald knocked over…"   
Knuckles was surprised. He had expected Dr. Robotnik to be behind this – it had been him every other time someone wanted the emerald. "A bat?" he asked. "Who was it? I don't think I know any bats…"   
Charmy shook his head. "I don't know, it all happened so fast! I didn't get a good look at her!"   
Knuckles looked perplexed. "Then how did you know it was a she?" he asked.   
Charmy finally cracked a smile. "How do I put this? She was… well developed, I guess."   
Knuckles smiled too, but it didn't last long. "Do you know which way she went?" he questioned his friend.   
Charmy nodded, and pointed towards the first streaks of daylight in the east sky. "She went that way Knux. And fast, too! She can glide just like you can! Wow!"   
Knuckles gave his friend a nod, then took to the air again and set off in that direction. He hadn't really needed to ask – inside his head he could hear a faint ringing noise that the Master Emerald always made to him when it was in distress. All he needed to do was follow the noise, and he would soon catch the thief. 

*****

The general was furious. The top secret, sealed off military base had been broken into. The guard robots had been destroyed. And a shady looking creature was spotted leaving quite hastily. 

That had been last night. This was today. And today there had been an extensive search of all of Mobius for the intruder. The suspect had been identified as a blue hedgehog named Sonic, who apparently lived in the Great Forest, where the infamous Knothole Village was hidden. The general had sent forth a squadron of his best troops to search the Great Forest, and by luck they had come across the hedgehog, who was crossing through the trees, on his way to rendezvous with his fellow freedom fighters. 

"FREEEEEEEEZE!" yelled the leader of the squad, catching Sonic by surprise. He had been bent over, retying the laces on his brand new pair of SOAPS, but now he righted himself and stared at them in confusion. What were Overlanders doing in the Great Forest? He hadn't seen any – with the exception of Eggman and his nephew, Snively (who didn't count – they were more like a virus) – since his visit to Station Square several months ago. "Ummm… have we met?" Sonic asked, taking a good look at them. They were dressed in military uniform, and all carried guns. Sonic winced. Mobians as a people didn't use guns, after a tragic accident that had happened to a Mobian prince – one of his friend Sally's ancestors. 

"You're coming with us, hedgehog!" answered the leader of the group.   
Sonic frowned. He didn't like the pushiness of this Overlander, or human, he reminded himself. His time in Station Square had taught him that the Overlanders of that region called themselves humans. Besides, he was on his way to meet Princess Sally and the others, for a mission in Robotropolis. Word had reached Knothole from his Uncle Chuck that the Eggman had skipped town. Now would be a perfect time to raid the factories and warehouses for the parts needed for the deroboticiser, with only Snively running things.   
"Listen pal," Sonic retorted, "I don't have time for this. Mind if I pass?"   
The troops all cocked their weapons in reply. Uh-oh. Time to juice! The Overlanders opened fire on the hedgehog, who quite easily managed to avoid all their blasts, so vast was his speed. Unfortunately, his eyes were on his attackers and not his escape route, so he had no warning of the great Oak tree in front of him until he smashed into it, grazing himself all over. Before he knew what was happening, Sonic found himself in handcuffs and being marched into a helicopter, where he found himself sitting beside a familiar looking large purple cat. 

*****

Princess Sally was worried. Sonic had been supposed to meet them an hour ago, but had never shown up. She sat in a meadow (under the cover of a tree, of course) along with Tails, Antoine, Rotor, and Bunnie, growing increasingly concerned by the minute. Rotor checked his watch and looked up to meet the gaze of the squirrel.   
"Sally…" Rotor began, but was cut off.   
"I know, I know," Sally sighed, bringing up her arm to silence him. "We'll just have to do this without Sonic, I guess."   
Tails shuffled uncomfortably. He was worried about Sonic, even more than Sally was. "Sally?" he asked. "Would it be all right if I looked for Sonic?"   
Sally hesitated. Tails was the youngest of the Freedom Fighters, but certainly not the least experienced. He had been Sonic's apprentice for quite some time now, and proved himself on several vital missions. And then of course, she couldn't forget about how he'd faced Robotnik himself, all alone in Station Square…   
Sally smiled at Tails warmly and nodded. "All right, but I want you to do something else first. We're short two people on this mission now, so when you get back to Knothole, find Dulcy and send her to Robotropolis. She knows where we'll be."   
Tails grinned and saluted, whirring his tails and lifting into the air by his own propulsion. "I'll take the Tornado, that way I can report in to Knothole!" he waved as he flew towards the Great Oak Slide. 'And,' he thought to himself, 'If I'm really lucky, I'll get to try out the new features I installed…' 

*****

Knuckles didn't know what he'd expected, but it certainly wasn't Rouge. The attractive bat was about his height, maybe a little taller, and had white fur. She had large, pointed ears at the top of her head, and rather impressive magenta wings sprouted from her back. Her eyes were a shade of turquoise, and a thick layer of blue eye shadow highlighted them. She wore the tightest pair of black leather pants he had ever seen, and a pink tube top that she looked in danger of falling out of. Her hands were clad pink and white gloves, and her feet were covered by high-heeled boots, also pink and white. And there was some kind of device attached to her head… what it was, he couldn't make out. All in all, she was the very definition of sex appeal, and Knuckles was rather taken aback when he caught up to her near the desert of the Sand Ocean zone. 

"Hi!" she had called to him as he'd landed nearby. This red echidna was pretty spunky – she liked what she saw. "My name's Rouge. Rouge the Bat! Who are you?"   
Knuckles was surprised. Obviously this 'Rouge' knew nothing of the Floating Island, or who he was. Maybe she didn't have evil intentions after all. "Err…hi…" he said, scuffing his feet. "I'm Knuckles the Echidna, but just call me Knuckles…"   
Rouge grinned at him as she placed the large gemstone she had been carrying down on the ground in front of her to talk easier. Knuckles eyed it longingly, and Rouge picked up on this. "You like the jewel, huh?" she smiled, blissfully unaware that the echidna she spoke to was about to become her biggest rival. Knuckles laughed nervously. "Yeah, you could say that. See, I'm the guardian of the Floating Island. It's my sworn duty to protect the Master Emerald," he pointed, indicating the stone. Rouge's smile disappeared, and was replaced by a slight frown. "Don't worry," she shrugged. "I'll take good care of it. It's so pretty, after all…"   
Knuckles shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he whispered.   
Rouge was beginning to lose her patience. "Just… let it go!" she cried. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"   
Knuckles lost his temper. "What are you talking about? That emerald's mine! You got that?" he growled, then tried to be nice again. "The Master Emerald contains special energies that neutralize the power of the Chaos Emeralds," he explained, trying to convince her how important it was to him. "That makes it very powerful." 

At this point, their debate was interrupted by a metallic claw reaching down from the sky, and grabbing the Master Emerald. Rouge was dumbstruck. "Whaa?" she spluttered. "Thief!"   
Despite the situation unfolding before him, Knuckles couldn't help but smile at that. "Look who's calling who a thief!" he pointed out.   
A third voice spoke then, one that Knuckles recognized immediately. "I came here following the signal from the emerald!" it announced. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Master Emerald, is it not?"   
Knuckle and Rouge both looked up to see Robotnik's Eggmobile floating above them, the large robotic legs tucked underneath, out of the way.   
"Eggman," Knuckles grunted, gritting his teeth. Rouge was fascinated by this.   
"So that's Dr. Eggman…" she murmured. She had heard quite a deal about this Overlander, but had never actually seen him before.   
"Well, it's not what Shadow is after…" Robotnik shrugged. "But I'm sure I can use it for something." He thought of a powerful machine he'd once created, and used the Master Emerald in it as a laser crystal. He could make an even more destructive one, perhaps. "Farewell, knucklehead!" he called down.   
"Not if I can help it!" the echidna yelled, leaping into the air. He knew he only had one choice. Reeling back his arm, he smashed forward and into the gemstone, shattering it for the second time in six months. Emerald shards went flying far in all directions, and the Eggmobile was knocked off balance for a few seconds. Rouge stared up at them in horror, not believing what she'd just seen. "Ahhh-aaaaaaa!!!!" she wailed. Her disbelief turned quickly to anger as she grabbed Knuckles by the neck and started shaking him. "What was that all about?!?" she demanded, tossing him to the ground. "Just look what you did to MY emerald!"   
Knuckles picked himself up, surprised and angry. "I did that to stop the Master Emerald from being stolen, you idiot!" he retorted. "If it's in pieces, I can restore it. And by the way, that's not YOUR emerald." Knuckles looked to the sky, expecting Eggman to attack, but he had already departed the scene. 'No need to worry about him stealing the emerald shards,' Knuckles thought to himself. They were useless unless a whole gem. But Rouge on the other hand… 

Rouge was already leaving too, flying away in a South-East direction, towards Dry Lagoon. "I despise anyone who takes jewels from me!" she called over her shoulder. "All the world's gems are mine to keep!"   
"Yeah, we'll see about that, Bat Girl!" he yelled after her, shaking his fist. Then he slumped to the ground. Oh man. The Master Emerald was in pieces again. And most irritatingly, it had been by his own hand! Knuckles shook his head and stood. Nothing he could do about that now, except gather the missing pieces once more. He listened carefully to the ringing in his head to determine where the nearest piece was, then took to the air and headed North-East, in the direction of Wild Canyon. 

**Chapter 3 – Rolling around at the speed of sound** 

"This is Sigma-Alpha 2, heading due south over city," Sonic heard the pilot saying into the radio. "We're en route, everything's a go."   
Sonic was bored. He'd been in this chopper now for almost three hours with only Big the Cat and a couple of Overlander guards for company. The Overlander guards gave him dagger eyes whenever he asked them why they were doing this, and Big wasn't really much of a conversationalist. Sonic sighed and leaned backwards in his seat. He hated feeling this helpless, unable to do something. He glanced over at Big, wondering if he had any ideas for escaping. But the blank look that Big gave him showed he was absolutely clueless? 

What had Big done anyway? Sonic had no idea why not only he was here, but why his large companion was either. Sonic couldn't imagine that he'd do anything like try to whack them over the head with his fishing pole…   
Sonic suddenly sat up, a glint in his eye. Big's fishing pole! Of course! He turned to the large cat. "Hey Big, lend me your rod for a second!" Sonic requested quietly, so as not to arouse his captors. Big was confused – why would Sonic need his rod when there wasn't any water in this thing? – but he handed it over anyway. Sonic seized it and grasped the lure, carefully inserting the hook on the end into the keyhole of his cuffs… 

The pilot, knowing nothing of what was going on behind him, listened to the reply from the radio. "This is Control Tower, we have you on radar," it said. "Report status of captured hedgehog aboard."   
The pilot started to make his reply. "That's a ten-four. Hedghog…"   
By this time, cries of alarm reached the pilot's ears. "What the…?" he spun around to see Sonic knock down the final guard, and Big slowly rising to his feet. "Didn't copy that, over?" came the voice from the radio. Panicked, the pilot yelled into the microphone. "The hedgehog's gone!" he exclaimed. "He's taken out everyone aboard, and…" The man spun again to see Sonic run at the door, head on. "Freeze! What do you think you're doing?" 

The door burst free and was sucked away into the air, as was Sonic. The hedgehog however grabbed the wing of the helicopter before he fell though, and flipped himself up onto it. "Talk about low budget flights!" he grinned to himself, pulling hard at a loose piece of metal on the wing. "No food or movies?!? I'm outta here! I like running better!" 

Big peeked out through the doorway just in time to see the piece that Sonic was tugging on come free, and take Sonic into the air with it. Sonic was expecting this though… counting on it even. He brought his feet down on the strip of metal, and turned it into a handy airboard! Sonic spun through the air, doing a 360 as he descended. "Yeaaaaaah!" he cheered, then vanished beneath a cloud. Big shrugged, then turned to the pilot, who was the only other conscious person aboard. "Please don't hurt me!" he whimpered, intimidated by the sheer size of the creature he was facing. Big looked confused. Hurt? Why would he hurt him? Big simply asked, "Can you land this helicopter, please? I want to see if my friend's all right."   
"O-of course sir!" the pilot stammered, plunging back into his seat. Big nodded his approval, then sat back down in his seat. 

*****

Knuckles looked around and sighed in dismay. How he was going to get that last piece, he had no idea. After a quick search of Wild Canyon, he had managed to grab two shards – one that had gotten stuck under a hanging column, and another one in a secret room he'd had to dig to with his shovel claws. He was extremely glad that he'd brought them with him, as he was sure he'd need them again before this ordeal was over. However, he had no idea how he was going to reach the third one that he'd located. The echidna stood before a massive column of blowing wind, and stared down at the emerald piece that had lodged itself into the side of the pit. He'd already tried jumping down to reach it, but the gusts were too strong, and he was simply blown into the air. 'This is what it must have been like for Sonic and Tails in Windy Valley,' he figured, recalling their stories of exploration in the Mystic Ruins as he was blown away for the umpteenth time. He landed on one of the pillars that surrounded the giant air vent in a hexagonal pattern, and stopped to catch his breath. The sun was shining down on him brightly through the sunroof, and he put his hand to his forehead to block out the light from his eyes. Reaching down with his other hand, he removed the sunglasses that he'd clipped to his shoe before he'd left home that morning, and put them on. That was better. They weren't Oakleys or Ray-Banz, but they got the job done. Looking around again, he noticed something that he hadn't before. There was a spring attached to the edge of the pillar he was sitting on –the type he'd used in the past to reach high altitudes quickly. Most interestingly of all, this one was pointing down diagonally. If he was not mistaken, then that would shoot him directly into the vent, where the emerald shard was lying. Deciding to give it a try, he shuffled over to it and launched forward. Success! He grabbed the emerald piece just as he was blown into the air again! He placed it in the satchel he'd found lying on a skeleton half buried in the sand, where he had put the other two pieces. Knuckles looked up at the pillar again, and stared curiously at the spring he'd just used. Surprising that he hadn't noticed it before. He'd done a good search of the room before all those wild rides he'd had into the air trying to grab it. A thought occurred to him. "No…" he said aloud, shaking his head. That was just plain stupid… wasn't it? Looking up at the pillar, he brought his glove to his face and lifted the sunglasses up to his forehead. The spring instantly vanished. He pulled the shades back down, and there it was again. Well, well, well. The specs could pick up hidden objects that he couldn't. These would probably come in handy again later, he realized. 

Knuckles pulled the satchel onto his back and turned his head to listen for the familiar ringing noise of the other emerald pieces. It was coming from a location not far South of where he was currently. Knuckles jumped into the wind column again, allowed himself to be blown into the air, and glided towards Dry Lagoon. But just before he got there, he noticed that the noise had grown fainter. He landed and listened carefully. The noise was heading west, back in the general direction of where the emerald had been shattered earlier today. 'Rouge,' Knuckles thought, glumly. Well, he'd deal with her later. She may have taken the pieces that landed here, but he wouldn't get any others. He was determined to make sure she didn't. She obviously didn't have a long range tuning to the Master Emerald like he did, because she was headed West, and Knuckles could hear the ringing in his head telling him that the remaining pieces lay to the East, and quite a way. Knuckles made his decision. He would retrieve the rest of the pieces, then he would find the bat girl, and take back the shards that she had stolen. 

*****

Sonic had been having the time of his life… up until a few minutes ago, that was. Airboarding to the safety of the ground, streetboarding down the hilly and bustling roads, avoiding the traffic coming in all directions as well as parked vehicles, grinding across rails, and then sprinting through the city park and down the side of an apartment block. All of it had seemed easy enough, until he got back on the roads again. He'd heard the roar of an engine and looked behind him to see a monstrous truck with the all too familiar G.U.N logo on it. Looks like the military was pulling out all the stops to get him back in custody. Well, too bad. Sonic ran for his life, dodging into alleys and making unpredictable turns, but the truck never gave up its pursuit for an instant, and Sonic found himself in the chase of his life. People fled as the truck rampaged after the hedgehog, leaving a wake of ruined cars in its path. Sonic became angry. These guys didn't even care if they hurt innocent civilians! He dashed around a corner and down the hill, almost tripping on a ramp in the middle of the road – what was that doing there anyway? He heard the truck go flying around the corner behind him, leave the ground for a few seconds, then hit the ground again with a thump, still on his tail. "WAAAAHHHH!!!" came a low yelp of panic from someone behind Sonic, and he looked around to see Big rolling out of the truck's way just in time to avoid injury. Big?!? How'd he gotten down here so fast? No time to worry about that now. Sonic finally saw his salvation up ahead – a low archway! He ran under as quickly as it could. The truck slammed on its brakes when it saw the danger, but still flew into the building at 80 miles an hour with an overwhelming crash. Sonic stopped for a breather. That had been a close one. 

**Chapter 4 – All of the darkness that dozes in red dusk** 

That night, Dr. Robotnik parked the Eggmobile in the hangar and entered his freshly made base, inside a pyramid within the Sand Ocean. He was still going over what Shadow had said in his head. "With the Chaos Emerald… aboard the space colony ARK…" he murmured. "I've got to find out just what's going on up there!" 

The doctor walked into his main control center, and switched the computer on. He was about to run a search on ARK when a news bulletin flashed onto the screen. "We interrupt this program for an important news flash," droned the reporter, who sounded to the Eggman more robotic than many of the creations that he could be credited for. "There has been a break in at the National Reserve Bank today. Surpisingly, the only thing taken was the Chaos Emerald."   
"The Chaos Emerald?!?" Robotnik yelled, banging his hands down on the console in surprise and frustration. Now there was an interesting coincidence. And unfortunate.   
"The suspect was identified as the world renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog," the reporter continued, as video images appeared on the screen of a hedgehog standing on the top of a bridge somewhere in Station Square, police cars surrounding the area. "He was seen fleeing the area, destroying the reserve's guard robots. Stay tuned for more details," the reporter finished.   
'Sonic, a criminal?' Robotnik wondered. He didn't think so. The doctor peered closely at the screen. The pictures were blurry, but he was almost certain that the hedgehog he was looking at was not black, not blue. "Sounds more like the work of Shadow!" he smirked smugly. Well then, that made things easier. If Shadow had an Chaos Emerald too, then perhaps that would be enough. He wouldn't need to locate the remaining five. 

Robotnik strode back to the Eggmobile. Time to investigate the ARK then. But before he got in, he noticed something on the side of the craft. Leaning down, he removed it for inspection. It appeared to be some sort of homing device. Frowning, the Eggman tossed it to the floor and crushed it with his boot. Was someone trying to find his base? He had better put on maximum security measures before he left… 

*****

Shadow stood atop the largest bridge in Station Square, and looked down upon those who wished to bring him to justice, a dominating smirk on his face. "How pathetic!" These troops would be even easier to get past than Hotshot had been. 'Are all humans this stupid in this day?' he wondered, regarding them with only mild curiousity. They were no threat to him, or the prize that he had snatched. He looked down at the green Chaos Emerald in his hand… 

…and remembered. 

*****

Sirens were flashing, alarms were blaring. A sense of panic was all over the ARK as Shadow and his only friend, Maria, fled. Only a few more corridors, and they would reach safety. 'But,' Shadow thought, gasping for breath, 'they're right behind us! How can me make it in time?'   
"Find them before they escape!" came a yell from somewhere behind them.   
"Shadow!" Maria gasped, equally short of breath, "When we get there, go straight to the escape pod! I'll go for the controls!"   
"No way!" Shadow panted. "I'm not leaving you behind!"   
Maria shook her head. "You don't know how to activate the escape pod! There's no point both of us going to the access panel – that'd make us easier targets!"   
Shadow grimaced. She was right. There was no other way. They ran into the main research lab, Shadow running towards the center of the room, and Maria for the computer console nearby. She tapped away at the keys franticly… she could set the timer for 30 seconds, that would give her enough time to cross the room and reach safety. 

Shadow heard the footsteps before she did. "Hurry Maria!" he called, all too late. A gunshot erupted from the corridor, and with a gasp, Maria fell back across the computer console. "MARIA!!!" Shadow screamed, and leapt forward to run to her aid… only to smash his face against the wall of the glass capsule that came down, trapping him within. Stunned, he woozily stood up and looked at his friend in horror, leaning against the console weakly. "Shadow…" she croaked, knowing her time was not long. "Do it for me… for all the people on those planet…"   
"Maria…" Shadow called weakly, feeling sick to his stomach as he watched his friend's eyes slowly flutter shut. That was the last thing he saw before the capsule blasted into space.   
"Sayonara… Shadow… the Hedgehog…" Maria whispered, then slumped to the floor. 

*****

Shadow looked up and found himself back on the bridge, emerald still in his hand. It had seemed so real… it had been real. A little fuzzy in parts, but it had definitely happened. Shadow shook his head, replacing the look of sadness in his eyes with one of anger. "Maria… I still remember the promise I made to you. For all the people on this planet… I promise you… REVENGE!" he vowed, then leapt into the air, his feet coming down on the bridge's support railing and grinding down onto the road. The police didn't react fast enough to stop him, and Shadow disappeared quickly, skating away into the fresh night air. 

*****

Sonic peeked out of an alleyway, then rather quickly ducked back in as a group of police cars sped past. When the wail of their sirens was a faint noise in his ears, he peeked out again. Satisfied this time, he confidently strode out into the main square. "This game of tag is boring!" he yawned. "I'm outta here!" There was a loud clanking behind him, and Sonic spun around to see a machine that had G.U.N written all over it approaching. "Humph. Finally decided to show up, eh?" Sonic asked. "Okay! Bring it on!" he challenged, pointing at the mechanical monster. 

"This is spider troop F-6T Big Foot," reported the pilot to his colleagues. "Suspect has been located, I'm preparing to intercept."   
"Yeah?!? Well your preparation's taken too long!" Sonic yelled, attacking the cockpit with a spindash. The pilot screamed and immediately lifted off from the ground. 

Bigfoot was almost identical to Hotshot, the machine that had been destroyed the previous night, and Sonic was able to defeat this one even easier than Shadow had his attacker. His battle went down almost the same as Shadow's, however Bigfoot didn't have the laser attack that Hotshot did, so it went down much quicker. Sonic became a blur as he rushed to the cockpit, and pulled the pilot to safety before the missiles decimated the craft.   
"You okay?" Sonic asked, pulling the man to his feet. The Overlander didn't respond in words, but rather ran away, terrified of the powerful hedgehog. Sonic was a little hurt but this, but he had to admit – watching the frightened person run away was pretty funny. "Hey guy! Take care!" Sonic grinned, waving at the departing human. He was about to make a run for it – the guy would probably send backup, after all – when a thud behind made him spin around. The sight astonished him. "What?!?" he asked to no-one in particular, amazed. 

A black hedgehog stood on the ruined Bigfoot, holding his arm up to admire the green gemstone it held. "It all starts with this," he declared. "A jewel containing the ultimate power!"   
Sonic recognised the jewel instantly. "That's the… Chaos Emerald!" he realized, anger coming over him. "Now I know what's going on! The military's mistaken me for the likes of you! So! Where do you think you're going with that emerald?"   
The black hedgehog regarded him coldly and silently as Sonic ran at him. "Say something!" he yelled. "You fake hedgehog!"   
'Well, since you asked so nicely…' thought the black hedgehog, throwing the Chaos Emerald into the air and yelling, "Chaos… CONTROL!!!" 

Catching the Chaos Emerald as it came back down, the hedgehog smirked as green rays of light emitted from the jewel, and then suddenly, he was gone! Faster than Sonic himself had thought physically possible, the dark thief flashed past him, reappearing on a nearby rooftop. Sonic turned around and stared at him, wide eyed. "Wow! He's fast!" Sonic gaped. "Hey… it's not his speed!" he realized. "He must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp!"   
"My name is Shadow! I am the world's ultimate life form!" he bragged. "There's no time for games – farewell!"   
And in a flash of green light, Shadow was gone. Sonic winced and put his hand up to shield his eyes, failing to notice the approaching sirens. "Shadow! What is he?" Sonic asked himself, then found searchlights trained on him.   
"DON'T MOVE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! WE HAVE YOU COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!!!" came a voice, amplified by a megaphone.   
Sonic looked around. In all directions, all he could see were cop cars, G.U.N. robots, and policemen, all with weapons trained upon him. "Not again!" the hedgehog groaned. 

*****

"This is Rouge reporting," spoke the bat into her wristwatch communicator, hidden under her glove. "I have located Eggman's base, and will proceed to enter it now." Rouge dropped her arm to her side and looked around at the base that Eggman had made in the pyramid. It was quite a sight. Ancient Egyptian statues and ceremonial pictures decorated the walls, along with a few that were obviously Robotnik's own design, such as the large scorpion hanging above her, completed with an Eggman face for that extra nasty look. The doctor obviously enjoyed looking at his own ugly mug as he indulged in the pleasures of his base. 

Her homing device had been destroyed, she assumed, because it had stopped transmitting about forty-five minutes beforehand. That mattered little to the treasure hunter though. It had done its job, the job she had given it when she quietly attached it the Eggmobile whilst the doctor had been gloating and Knuckles attacked him. And now here she stood, in the Egg Quarters. She looked to her right, where a large pair of doors sat, with the Eggman logo stamped across them. A large keyhole was in the middle of the nose in the logo. This door was locked. "I hate to say it…" Rouge sighed, "But I guess I'll have to find that key first." 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a rush of air as a large, beetle-like robot hovered into the room. Rouge stared at it for a moment in wonder, then decided she'd be better off hiding, and ducked behind a pillar. Not quite fast enough though. Red lights blazed all over the room, and lasers started firing from smaller beetlebots, which swarmed into the room. Rouge yelped and made a run for it. 

**Chapter 5 – I'm plotting my schemes, wherever I go** 

Rouge dived through the doorway as the door slammed shut behind her. Groaning slightly she rose, and examined herself for injuries. A small bump on her head, a nick on her arm, and a bruise on her knee. Nothing major. Rouge sighed and ran a hand through her hair. At least she was where she wanted to be – in the main control room. Looking around, a panel on the floor caught her attention. "It's a space transporter!" she exclaimed, moving to the computer to investigate. "The destination has been set to…" she muttered, tapping at the keys. "…ARK?" A look of confusion spread across Rouge's face. "Wasn't that Space Colony shut down over 50 years ago? What's Eggman doing up there anyway?" Rouge looked at the screen, as if expecting answers. Shrugging, she pushed a button and stepped backwards onto the pad. "Doesn't matter. It's my mission to find out what!" she said as the purple teleportation beams surrounded her. 

*****

Robotnik couldn't see a thing. The inside of the space colony was pitch black. Experimentally, he stuck his hand up in front of his face, only a foot away. Nothing. Good thing he had the headlight on his Eggmobile, he thought, switching it on. In the faint light, he could see that the walls, ceilings and floors were all coated with a thick layer of dust. Obviously this place had been empty for quite some time. "So… this is the ARK," the Eggman observed. "I have to locate the central control room that Shadow mentioned before he left…" And with that, Robotnik started wandering through the space colony's dark corridors. He soon found that he wasn't entirely alone – despite how long the place had been abandoned, G.U.N robots still guarded various rooms and passageways. The explosions left by their destruction added more light to the rooms, allowing the doctor to see better. Through doorways and across pits filled with a disgustingly toxic (and coming from Robotnik, that's saying something) bubbling green slime… slime? What purpose was there for that in a place such as this? At one point the walkways even took him outside the ARK. The space colony was surrounded by an atmosphere bubble that pumped air all throughout, so he was not in any danger. It didn't take long for him to find the room where Shadow was waiting though – within ten minutes he'd noticed a light source and simply followed it until he came to the central control room, and jumped out of his Eggmobile to greet Shadow. 

"I've been waiting for you, doctor," Shadow nodded, regarding him. "Now see what the world's leading scientist Professor Gerald has created!" Shadow turned and stepped forward to the center of the room. The control room was positioned over a wide abyss. Robotnik peered over the edge and immediately became dizzy – the bottom was unable to be seen by the human eye. Shadow stood in front of a tower that supposedly reached the bottom, which sat behind a small computer mainframe. Robotnik noticed that there were seven slots in the tower, under the glass cover. 

"The ARK was the leading space colony of its time. But many people didn't realize that in its research labs, weapons of mass destruction were being created," Shadow explained, indicating the tower. "This is one of them - a weapon capable of destroying an entire planet, codenamed: The Eclipse Cannon."   
Robotnik stared up at the tower in awe. "Destroying an entire planet… was this my granfather's legacy?" he wondered.   
Shadow pushed a button, and the glass cover over the tower's front slid aside, exposing the slots to him. "However, it has been deactivated for some time now," Shadow informed Robotnik, now lying through his teeth. He reeled back his arm and tossed the green Chaos Emerald he had stolen into one of the slots, causing the room to glow with a green aura for a minute. The jewel was a perfect fit. "To reactivate it, large amounts of energy are necessary."   
Robotnik nodded with new understanding. "So that's why we needed the Chaos Emerald!"   
Shadow nodded excitedly. This man was quite intelligent. Just not intelligent enough. But he kept those thoughts to himself. "Exactly!" he exclaimed. "To gain total power, we need the seven Chaos Emeralds! Once you have that, then you have the ultimate weapon of destruction, to use as you please. And then…" Shadow brought his piercing gaze to meet Robotnik's. "The world could be yours!"   
Robotnik chuckled in glee. Everything was falling into place so well! "Sounds like a plan!" he laughed. "I'll go back to Earth, retrieve the remaining emeralds, and build a legacy of my own!" 

A disbelieving voice came from the roof of the room. "Do you really think it'll be that easy?" it asked. Shadow and Robotnik looked up to see a busty, white furred female bat hanging from the ceiling. She somersaulted to right herself, and hovered in front of them, wings flapping calmly. "I've got a great idea! Why don't we make a deal?" she asked.   
"A deal?" Robotnik was intrigued. Who was this bat girl that had barged in on their planning? "What kind of deal?" he asked.   
"When you stole that huge emerald, you said something about a reaction – a reaction your computers had with the Master Emerald!" she smiled sweetly. "Now, if I could just borrow that radar…"   
Robotnik didn't trust her an inch. "If I do, what's in it for me?" he asked.   
The girl grinned now. She knew she had what the doctor wanted. "I have an idea where the other Chaos Emeralds might be. I may not look like it, but do you know that I'm a treasure hunter that specializes in all kinds of jewels?" she asked, pulling out from her backpack a Chaos Emerald that shone with a navy blue glow. The backpack also held the Master Emerald shards that she'd found in Dry Lagoon. 

Robotnik's eyes widened as he looked at the gemstone. He wanted it. His eyes wandered questionably to Shadow, silently asking his opinion. Shadow nodded. The hedgehog wanted that Chaos Emerald too.   
"Very well," Robotnik announced, nodding his head.   
"Okay then, it's a deal!" The bat was all smiles now. They'd fell for it – hook, line and sinker! "I don't think we've been introduced – I'm Rouge the Bat! But you can call me Rouge…" 

*****

"Coming back isn't my idea of a vacation!" Robotnik complained as he sat in the Eggmobile, looking out at the coast surrounding Prison Island. Shadow and Rouge flanked him on either side, and the forest of the isle sat behind them. The group looked out at the three aircraft carriers sitting in the nearby ocean before them.   
"How can you be sure your intelligence reports are correct? Why would the emeralds be here?" he demanded.   
Rouge just shrugged his words off. "Well, believe what you want to believe," was her answer.   
Robotnik sighed. He didn't trust this one yet, but he knew that she was the only lead that they heard right now. "Very well," he said. "Very well. Let's discuss how we shall do this. I shall go in first and distract the military. Then," he briefed, holding up a small explosive charge to demonstrate, "Shadow will head into the armory where he will set the timers on these dynamite packs. We'll blow up the whole island and get away before anyone knows what hit them!"   
Shadow obviously liked this idea – he smiled evilly as he took the explosives.   
"Meanwhile," the doctor continued, turning to Rouge, "You will have to sneak into the Security Hall and find the Chaos Emeralds. Quite a worthy challenge for a treasure hunter as yourself, isn't it, bat girl?" he smirked.   
Rouge just grinned and gave a confident salute.   
"We only have thirty minutes to pull this off," Robotnik announced. "And we only get one try, so don't fail me!"   
Shadow and Rouge both nodded, and the Eggman was satisfied. He piloted the Eggmobile towards the aircraft carriers, Shadow and Rouge right behind him. 

*****

The Tornado 2 soared through Prison Island's nearby airspace, on approach. Tails gazed out at the remote atoll from the pilot's seat, and nodded grimly. "No doubt about it," he assured himself. "This has to be the place. I heard about it on satellite TV. It's a small, abandoned island that's reinforced, and super strong. It's called, 'Prison Island.'" Tails hit the thrusters and flew in towards the aircraft carriers in the bay for a closer look. "I still can't believe that Sonic would destroy the military buildings, or rob the bank," Tails said, scratching his head. Surely Sonic couldn't have done something like that? No, he refused to believe it. Someone must have their wires crossed. "Hang on Sonic!" he called. "Here I come!" 

It was fortunate that Tails looked down at the closest ship to the island, because otherwise the events that occurred during that day, and the next, might not have happened. Tails didn't think of it as luck at the time though. As it was, he felt his stomach wrench in disgust as he saw a pink hedgehog in a red dress being chased by an Overlander with a bushy moustache, in a hovercraft on legs. He knew both of those figures, and he wasn't particularly happy to see either of them there. What were they doing here? 'Oh well,' he thought to himself. 'Time to kick some butt!' "Tornado transformation!" he yelled excitedly, pushing a big blue button on the dashboard. 

*****

Robotnik couldn't believe his good luck. They had just reached the area where he, Shadow and Rouge were to split up when it happened. "Everyone ready?" he asked. "Shadow! Rouge! On with the show!" 

The girl seemed to appear out of nowhere. She pounced on Shadow and threw her arms around him, squealing in delight. "Oh Sonic!" she cried. "I thought I'd never see you again! I'm so glad you made it!"   
Shadow blinked in surprise. He had never been hugged by anyone before. What was this creature doing? He turned his head to get a better look at her. It was a pink hedgehog, wearing a bright red dress, and a red headband in her hair. Her shoes were also red, with a white stripe running down them. Amy Rose stared up at Shadow in surprise.   
"You're not Sonic!" she exclaimed, beginning to look peeved. "Who are you?" she asked angrily. How dare this hedgehog impersonate her brave and bold hero?!?   
"I'm the one who should be asking that!" came a familiar voice from above, in the vehicle that was standing next to them. Amy looked up and screamed. "Eggman?!? AHHHH!!!" The girl knew she was in trouble – she turned on her heels and ran for it.   
"Ahh, Amy!" Eggman recognised the girl, now that he'd gotten a good look at her when she ran from Shadow. "Her timing is perfect!" She had, as usual, jumped right into her clutches. She was practically a professional hostage, the Eggman had abducted her so many times! "You two go ahead," he told his companions as he strode off in pursuit of the foolish young hedgehog. "I'll take care of this!"   
Shadow and Rouge exchanged confused glances, shrugged, then parted ways. 

Robotnik easily caught up to Amy, who soon found herself caught between the Eggmobile and the edge of the ship. "Give up Amy!" he smirked evilly. Amy was just about to turn and dive into the ocean when something fell out of the sky and landed with a clank in front of her. It looked a little like Tails' Tornado 2 – it boasted the same bright blue and orange paintwork – yet its shape was different. However her heart leapt in relief when she saw Tails in the pilot's seat. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" she called, grinning widely. Whatever that machine was, she could see that it was heavily armed – now Eggman would get it!   
"Stand back, Amy!" Tails yelled, then turned to face his opponent. 

*****

Tails could see that he'd taken Eggman by complete surprise. He certainly hadn't expected a mech like the one he himself was sitting in come falling out of the sky. This was one of the new alternate modes he had recently installed in the Tornado 2. The wings had retracted inside the body of the machine, and the tail fins had flipped down, becoming the top parts of the new legs he'd built in. The bazooka at the front of the craft and the laser blaster just above his head shone brightly, gleaming in the late morning sun. Tails called this mode… the Cyclone! 

"Eggman! You won't get away with this!" he yelled at the doctor, ready for action.   
Robotnik glared at him, finally finishing his inspection of the fox's new toy. "You think you can defeat me?!? Haw! Show me what you got!" the Overlander dared him.   
The fox did so, locking in to the craft with his sight, and firing the laser blaster. He had defeated the Egg Walker back in Station Square with no more then a few scratches, and the evil doctor no longer intimidated him as much as he used to. Robotnik saw the danger though, and fired his own laser blast that stopped Tails' shot, then counter-attacked with another shot. Tails blocked his in a similar fashion, and started moving to the left, trying to get around the Eggmobile. Robotnik retaliated by turning to his left also, and firing again. This went on for several minutes – the two machines circled each other, ducking and dodging, firing and blocking. It occurred to them at about the same time that they were getting nowhere with this, but Tails was the first one to do something about it. Swiveling his bazooka around, he fired at the Eggmobile before his rival had a chance to do the same, and cheered victoriously as several new holes appeared in it. Robotnik backed away quickly, suddenly feeling a sense of danger. 'The Egg Walker!' he silently reminded himself. 'Don't forget what happened in Station Square!' The Eggmobile was too valuable to him right now for him to lose. Glaring menacingly at Tails, he turned the ship away, but faced him as he retreated. "This time I'll let you go," he growled. "But next time, you won't be so lucky!" And then he was gone. 

"Wow Tails!" Amy exclaimed, bouncing forward to stand beside the Cyclone. "You did it!" She was well and truly impressed by the fight Tails had put up. "But what are you doing here on this island?" she asked. Could he have come here for the same reason she had?   
"I'm the one who should be asking that!" Tails answered, concerned. "Don't you know it's dangerous here?" She should, after what had just happened.   
Amy nodded. "I know, but I'm here to save my hero, Sonic!" A starry gaze entered her eyes as she thought about the heroic hedgehog that had saved her so many times before.   
Tails had expected as much, but he still rolled his eyes and moaned, "Again?!?"   
Amy brought herself back to reality. Eggman was here, and that meant bad news for all of them. "Hurry Tails!" she cried. "I know Eggman's up to no good again!"   
Tails nodded. He may have sent he doctor packing, but he still had a job to do. "Okay Amy! Wait here, I'll be back soon!" he called, piloting the Cyclone towards the island.   
Amy looked around nervously. The courage she had felt when she first arrived was quickly disappearing. He didn't like the idea of being left alone any more. "Tails, wait up!" she wailed, running after him. "I wanna help Sonic too!" 

**Chapter 6 – Hurry through, the island's calling** 

Rouge looked around the Security Hall from the platform she stood on, as the voices came over her wrist communicator.   
"Doctor, I'm in place," Shadow reported. "Should I start the countdown?"   
"There's been an unexpected delay on my end," came the reply. "There's no more time to waste! Set the timer for fifteen minutes! Let's go Rouge!"   
Rouge smiled confidently. She was sure she could find the three emeralds that were here in less than five minutes. "Here I go!" she said into her glove, then jumped to the floor and looked at her radar. The nearest emerald was to her left, it seemed. She turned her head in that direction, and located it without difficulty. There were two large fans situated over a deep pit. The red Chaos Emerald had been left carelessly hovering just above the fan. She glided over to grab it, but was instantly shot into the air by a blast of hot air. She squealed in surprise and glided to the nearby ledge. Maybe it hadn't been so careless after all. It would be hard too reach… but not impossible. She jumped and glided again until she was directly above the emerald, then performed her drill drive attack, spinning down quickly through the air. Her force was more powerful than that of the fan, so she was able to quite easily grab the emerald before being blasted into the air again. 

Once more she glided to the ledge, then put the emerald in her pack and checked her radar again. The second emerald was nearby, but judging by its position it appeared to be in a safe. The safe alarms were active on this level at the moment, she would have to turn them off before she could crack it. The remaining emerald was on the top floor. Rouge glided to the opposite wall, climbed up to a balcony, then grabbed a pulley handle that reeled her up there. Sure enough, the purple Chaos Emerald was in plain sight. It sat in between two rows of large crates filled with junk, but was guarded by a complex series of lasers. And a hovering G.U.N. robot too. Hmmm. Rouge wondered if the lasers would trigger alarms, or burn her. To find out, she picked up a small stone at her feet, and tossed it right into one of the beams. It sizzled and hit the ground, a charred black pebble now. Rouge frowned. Barbecued bat was not her idea of a good time. She studied the lasers thoughtfully. The ones nearest to her were positioned so that they ran between the rows, and moved backwards and forwards. The next set moved up and down. The third set remained motionless, but was probably the trickiest of all because they ran in a diagonal fashion. Rouge made a few quick calculations, then ran forward. One… two… three backflips, and she found herself directly underneath the emerald. The robot never stood a chance – one of her kicks had sent it straight into the lasers. 'Now what though?' Rouge wondered. The emerald was floating above her, held in midair by a small hovering device. It was too high for her to reach with a regular jump, and the lasers would make quite a mess of her if she was to attempt climbing the boxes. The answer was her screw kick. Rouge kicked off the ground, spinning in a circle again, and grabbed the emerald when she reached maximum height. "Only one more left!" she exclaimed with satisfaction, placing the jewel in her pack. 

Rouge looked around and saw a switch that was colour coded red nearby. She'd earlier noticed that the safes of each floor were different colours – the top floor was blue, second floor yellow, and the bottom floor red. Maybe that switch deactivated the alarms for that floor? She made her way out of the lasers and then ran to it and flicked it off. That should do it. Running for the hole in the floor, she descended back to the ground level and made for the safe. She stopped before she got there though – a large weight trap was set in front of it. It continuously rose, then slammed into the ground, rose, then slammed into the ground. She would have to turn it off too, unless she wanted to become a bat pancake. Looking around, she saw a switch attached to the roof, of all places! That had to be it. But how was she to get there? It was in the center of the roof, so gliding from the walls wouldn't work – she'd lose too much height by the time she got there. There was no obvious way to reach it… but there had to be some way! Maybe the answer was hidden. She reached for the device attached to her head, and pushed the button. A green visor-like lens slid into place in front of her eyes. Her treasure scope had the same properties as Knuckles' sunglasses (although she didn't know that) – hidden objects became visible. Scanning the room again, she saw what she was after – a large red spring sat on the balcony just above her. Bingo. She climbed up to it, and let herself be shot into the air. Before she fell back down, she reached up, grabbed the switch, and gave it a sharp tug. The weight froze in midair, deactivated. Perfect! Rouge glided down to the safe, and studied it. The combination lock was in the center of it. Not a problem. She burrowed into it with the sharp pick nails on her gloves, and the door quickly slid open, revealing the remaining Chaos Emerald, which had a sky blue glow. Perfect! She placed the emerald in her backpack, then turned to leave… 

Only to see the safe door slam shut in front of her, and lock itself. Uh-oh. 

*****

Shadow was strolling quite happily… well, not happily. He was never really happy, any more. But he felt almost happy, walking through the peaceful forest. Then the distress call came from his walkie talkie.   
"Got a slight problem here…" came the voice of Rouge. Shadow could practically see her kicking herself in frustration. "I can't believe I'm trapped inside this safe with the Chaos Emeralds!" She sighed. "I guess I won't be able to call myself a hunter any more…"   
Shadow looked down at his watch, indifferent. Ten minutes until detonation. He could care less, really. He'd never trusted the bat girl from the start. Good riddance. 'But… wait a minute…' A memory flashed into his head. He saw Maria, leaning against the computer in the ARK's research lab, struggling to hold on. Her eyes were fluttering shut… Maria. He had made a promise to her. It had been her dying wish! He couldn't let her down! "Ehhhh…" he grunted, thinking of how annoying it would be to have to run to Rouge's aid. "Troublemaker!" he yelled into the air, then skated down the hill towards the path that would lead him to the Security Hall. 

*****

Sonic paced back and forth angrily. The nerve of that fake hedgehog! Oooh, he was angry! How dare he? Blacken his name?!? Imitate his roguishly hadnsome good looks?!? Ooooh! He wanted to catch that fake hedgehog in a sack and throw that sack in a river and hurl the river into space! Ooohh… 

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone jump down in front of his cell. Sonic turned, and to his surprise saw a smiling… "Wha? Amy?!?"   
Amy's finger went to her lips. "Sssh! Keep your voice down!" she whispered, then spun around in a circle, quite happy that she'd gotten Sonic's attention. She was going to milk it for all it was worth. "Have no fear! Amy Rose is here!"   
Oh no. Not Amy! Anyone but Amy! Let Tails save him! Or Knuckles! Antoine even! But why AMY?!? Oh, fate was cruel to him…   
"How'd you get here?" he simply asked, throwing his hands up in the air and turning away, frustrated.   
Amy grinned from ear to ear as she held up a security card. "Well, if you gotta know, I caught a ride with Tails! Are you sure you don't nee my help?" she asked, teasingly. "It looks like you could use iiiiiiiit!"   
The blue one sighed. Well, at least Tails was here. Sonic changed the subject. "The reason I'm in here is because of that fake hedgehog!" he complained, jumping from foot to foot, the anger flaring up again.   
Amy raised her eyebrows. The one she'd seen? "You mean… that black hedgehog?" she asked, snapping her fingers and pointing at him. Sonic looked up in surprise. "Did you see him?" he asked desperately. "Where is he now?!?"   
"If I tell ya, will you marry me?" came the starstruck reply.   
Sonic made a face. "No way!"   
Amy pouted as she ran the card through the slot on the small computer terminal on the wall. "I thought I had you this time!"   
With a creak, the cell bars retracted into the roof, and Sonic gratefully stepped into the corridor, jumping over the hole in the floor where the door sat.   
"That black hedgehog came here with Dr. Eggman!" Amy told him.   
Sonic grunted. "So, Eggman's behind this, huh?" That made sense. 

Amy turned to look at the cell. Someone had been busy – the walls were covered in writing, done in white chalk. There were all sorts of calculations, diagrams, and equations scrawled all over them. "What's all that writing on the wall anyway?" she asked. "Did you do that?"   
Sonic made no reply. Amy turned to see that she was alone again. "Wait for me, Sonic!" she called, running down the corridor. "He's such a brat sometimes…" 

*****

Rouge wasn't about to let being trapped in a safe stop her. She'd burrowed away at the back wall for about five minutes, and finally broken through into what looked like a large storage room. It was like a warehouse. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one in the room. "I can't believe I've come this far just to fail!" she exclaimed, staring up at the mechanical monstrosity blocking her way out. 

The pilot in the cockpit immediately started hovering as soon as he saw her. "This is R-1/R Flying Dog," he reported into the radio. "Intruder has broken into the storage center, I shall eliminate at all costs!" And with that, he flew towards Rouge. The bat rolled out of the craft's way and stood to study it. It looked pretty much like the Hotshot and Bigfoot machines that Shadow had briefed both her and Eggman on. So that meant that the cockpit was the weak spot… but how was she to reach it? The machine was flying too high! Not even a screw kick would get her up that far! 

Flying Dog made another pass over her head, machine gun blazing. Rouge jumped clear of the shots, and clung to a railing at the side of the wall. An idea came to her. Whilst Flying Dog was soaring past and turning back around, she climbed up the railing, and when she had enough altitude, glided towards the machine. Flying Dog was turning around, and didn't see her until she was right on top of him. But by then it was too late – Rouge delivered a smashing blow by hitting the cockpit with her drill drive. Flying Dog was damaged, but not down. It went after her with everything it had – machine gun, missiles and laser blast. But Rouge managed to dodge them all successfully and after another four drill drives connected, Flying Dog went down. Rouge sighed in relief, then ran towards the exit. She found herself back in the main Security Hall. Knowing where she was now, Rouge turned towards the way she'd come in. A large steel door was in her way. She was still trapped. 

*****

Sonic was finding himself extremely grateful for his speed yet again as he rushed up around the tower. No sooner had he been bounced over to this tower by a convenient spring on one of the aircraft carriers he'd been running around then a countdown had started. He had looked up and noticed that the tower was built around a large missile. He had less than ten seconds to get to the safety at the top of the tower! Running up as fast as he can, turning sharp, ninety degree corners every second or so, he saw that he wouldn't make it. There was only once chance – he saw what looked like a handle on the side of the missile, and jumped at it. Sonic's hands grabbed it just as the missile took off, shooting into the air. Great. Now what? 

Sonic's attention was drawn to a building that wasn't far below him. He might be able to drop down to it without killing himself… anything was better than being stuck to this thing until it blew itself into oblivion. Sonic bit his lip… and let go of the handle. The building came rocketing up towards him, fast. Far too fast. Sonic screamed in terror and curled himself up in a ball. Lucky for him, the ceiling was made of a very thin layer of metal, so Sonic plowed through it without injury. Opening his eyes, he saw himself skidding down through the building, sparks flying behind him. His feet were on a sheet of metal – he was boarding again! Sonic grinned to himself and maintained control, as he skidded down the side of the wall. Sonic plowed through a chute, shot out into the open air again, and landed at the edge of the island's forest. He stopped for a breather. That had been too fast, even for him. "So far, so good…" he panted, then turned as he heard something behind him. Another hedgehog had just landed on a nearby log, and saw Sonic at the same time he was seen. 

"Hey, that's…" Sonic started.   
"That blue hedgehog again of all places!" Shadow frowned.   
"I found you, faker!" Sonic glared, pointing an accusing finger at him.   
"Faker?!?" Shadow repeated, incredulous. Who did this blue hedgehog think he was anyway? "I think you're the fake hedgehog around here! You're comparing yourself to me?!? Hah! You're not even good enough to be my fake!" he goaded Sonic.   
The anger in Sonic's eyes was quite obvious. "I'll make you eat those words!" he yelled, leaping forward. Shadow leapt too, and landed behind him. Sonic turned around to glare at him, face to face. He could see that the black hedgehog wasn't carrying a Chaos Emerald this time around. A surge of confidence ran through him. "You can't get away this time!" he declared. "There's only one real Sonic!"   
Shadow frowned. He didn't have time for this… he must show this upstart hedgehog who was the boss, and quickly. As Shadow was going over these thoughts Sonic jumped at him, using a homing attack. Shadow barely had time to counter with his own homing attack. The two connected in mid air, then were both knocked backwards. Neither of the hedgehogs suffered any real injury, but their attacks were indeed powerful. Both Sonic and Shadow fell to their knees, taking into account what the other was capable of.   
"Not bad for an imposter," Shadow panted, getting to his feet. Sonic jumped to his own, taking a better look at Shadow. Red eyes… upwardly pointed spines, and now that yellow homing attack… those were things he had only before seen in himself, and charged with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds. This guy sure had some power! Sonic nodded with new appreciation for his opponent, rubbing his head. "That hurt…" he muttered, facing Shadow again. 

Before either one of them could take another step toward the other, their battle was interrupted. Shadow's walkie talkie had been knocked to the ground, and a burst of static came from it. Then came the unmistakable voice of the one that Sonic had come to loathe. 'Eggman!' he thought in alarm. Shadow really WAS working for him!   
"Shadow? What are you doing?!?" the doctor spluttered, barely audible beneath the static. "Get back here right now before the island blows up with you still on it!"   
A look of panic came over Shadow's face as well as Sonic's. In the heat of the battle, he had forgotten why he had even come this way…   
"Blow up?!?" Sonic yelped, but his voice was wasted on the surrounding, empty forest. Shadow was already skating through the trees, and disappeared quickly. Sonic wanted to chase him… but… how long did he have? And what about Tails and Amy? Sonic glared in the direction that Shadow had disappeared in, then turned on his heels and ran. 'Next time…' he silently vowed. 

*****

Time was running out. Few seconds remained as Shadow burst into the Security Hall, knocking out the steel door that Rouge had been solemnly staring at minutes ago. She wasn't any more though, she had glumly plonked down beside the safe that she had been locked in, on the far side of the room, silently saying her goodbyes. She looked up in surprise when she heard the crash though, and saw Shadow looking around wildly, quite a large hole sitting in the door now. "Shadow?!?" she asked, in amazement. The hedgehog had come to rescue her?!? But… how could they possibly get away in time? 

Shadow finally caught sight of her waving and running towards him. "THE EMERALDS!" he yelled, desperation setting in as he skated towards her. Fool! Why had she had to go over to the opposite end of the Security Hall?!? There was only a few seconds left! "WHERE ARE THE EMERALDS?!?"   
Rouge looked at him in confusion as she ran towards him, but pulled her pack around and fished out the light blue one. Shadow saw it and a look of determination came across his face. It would do. 

"CHAOS… CONTROL!" he hollered, running towards her now. Rouge stopped running and looked down as the emerald started to glow. Blue rays started to emit form it. "What the…?"   
'No!' Shadow thought, panic setting in again. 5 seconds left… he'd never make it in time!   
4…   
'I have to make physical contact with the emerald or else it won't work!'   
3…   
Rouge ran forward again, not understanding, but realising something was about to happen.   
2…   
Shadow leapt forward, arms outstretched.   
1…   
Shadow's index finger tagged the glowing jewel, and that was all it took. The blue glow surrounded Shadow and Rouge… 

*****

Explosions. They were everywhere. Robots disintegrated in the fires as explosions struck out all over the island, and on the aircraft carriers in the bay too. The shock waves caused a small tidal wave to blow out to sea, chasing after a blue plane that contained two hedgehogs and a fox aboard. But Tails hit the thrusters, and the three were carried to safety. 

**Chapter 7 – I am the Eggman** 

Shadow stood at the window, staring out at the planet they orbited, far, far, below. Maria stood beside him, doing the same. It was such a glorious sight…   
"Shadow?" Maria asked. "What do you think it's like on Mobius?"   
Shadow continued to look at it, as if he could almost see the people below, living out their everyday lives. "The Professor said that his life was dedicated to all the people down there. He once said that his mission was to make people happy, through the power of science…" Shadow frowned. Where did he fit into all that then?   
Maria picked up on his look of confusion. "Shadow…" she started.   
Shadow just shook his head. "Maria, I just don't know any more. I often wonder why I was created, what my purpose is. Maybe if I go down there, I'll find the answers… maybe…"   
Maria couldn't think of anything to say to that, so she just smiled and stood beside her friend, as the stared down at the beauty that was Mobius. 

*****

"Maria…" Shadow whispered. He opened his eyes to see that he was where he had been, staring down at the planet Mobius. The only difference was that Maria no longer stood beside him. Shadow sighed. He missed his friend. It was strange though – his memory of talking to Maria in this very room was crystal clear. He had been reliving it, and it took him a moment to remember what time he was in when he snapped out of it. But the other memory… the one he had on the bridge… that was hazy. It was almost as if he was missing a part of it… 

"Why so melancholy?" Rouge asked, walking up beside him and interrupting his thoughts. Shadow looked over at her, then turned away. He really just wanted to be alone with his thoughts right now. Rouge had things on her mind though. "That was so unexpected… so unlike you Shadow, coming back to rescue me like that…" she said softly. She owed her life to the black hedgehog. She smiled. "But you ability to use the Chaos Control certainly comes in handy!"   
Shadow didn't look at her. He still didn't trust this bat girl. "You know… I wasn't saving you," he replied. "I was saving the Chaos Emeralds."   
Rouge grinned. As much as Shadow tried to hide it, there was a sense of friendship, or at least a friendly business relationship between them. She could tell. "Yeah, but that's not the whole story, is it?" she asked. 

Dr. Robotnik strode into the room, clearing his throat. "Everything's ready to go!" he announced, a large smile present on his face. His time was finally approaching!   
Rouge looked apprehensive though. "Are you sure?" she asked. "We only have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, you know."   
Shadow shrugged it off. He had his own reasons for wanting the Chaos Emeralds, and he wanted to see some destruction. "That's more than enough for the demonstration!" he said, striding towards the door that would take him to the control room. "So let's get this show on the road!" 

*****

The broadcast came onto TV screens all over Mobius at 6 pm, standard Southern time. Station Square, Knothole Village, the Northern Tundra, Downunda… it even reached the non-floating island. All of Mobius watched in growing concern as the wide, cackling face of the Eggman filled their TV screens. Behind him scrolled self abosbent statements. "I am brilliant. I am a genius. I am great…"   
"Citizens of Mobius, lend me your ears and listen very carefully!" he demanded. "My name is Dr. Robotnik, the world's greatest scientist, and soon to be it's greatest ruler! Behold the power of the Eggman Empire!" 

Underneath the space colony ARK, a pale blue glow came. The spherical satellite of Mobius glowed brightly for a few minutes, then the bottom half crumbled apart, revealing the true underside of the colony. It was made to appear like a face – a face with a metal moustache. The nose of the face extended far downwards in a sharp point, like a massive needle sticking out of it. Silently, the nose split in the middle, four ways. Each portion of the nose slid aside to reveal an enormous cannon. Blue light extended from each of the fore parts, rays connecting them all, then traveling into the center. In a blaze of light, a laser of mass proportions shot out of the Eclipse Cannon, heading for Mobius. People all the world over winced and ducked, but need not have bothered – they were not in immediate danger. The beam passed through Mobius' atmosphere, not very far, then went back out again, through space, and struck the moon. A few cracks appeared, then there was an enormous, silent explosion, creating a new patch of asteroids. When the light faded, there was a gigantic crater sitting in the moon. The Eclipse Cannon had destroyed approximately a third of the land mass. The ground glowed with a red hot heat, but no smoke. There was no atmosphere for that, after all. People all over Mobius gazed at the night sky in horror, panicking over the destruction they had just been witness too. An evil cackling brought their attentions back to their screens. A countdown now filled it, decreasing from 24 hours. The Eggman logo was plastered in the background, as a reminder of the person responsible for the carnage. The person they all feared. 

TO BE CONTINUED… 


	2. The end?

sasa22

**Chapter 8 – Gotta get a hold of my life**

It was only seconds after the broadcast ended that the Tornado 2 arrived in Station Square. They hadn't heard Eggman's ranting or raving, and the roar of the engines had been so great that they hadn't heard the laser blast scream over their heads. But they certainly noticed the level of panic in town that everyone seemed to share. They ran around in terror, trying to comprehend what they had seen.   
"Hey! What's going on?" Tails asked a passing Overlander in concern.   
"We're all going to die!" he wailed, not stopping for even a second.   
Sonic ran over and grabbed him gently by the arm. "What are you talking about?!?" he asked. He didn't like this – everyone was too jumpy. The man whimpered, the recent events getting to him. "Please! Let me go!" he sobbed. "I need to be with my wife and children!"   
Sonic let the man go, and turned to his friends. "What's got everyone on the edge?" he wondered aloud. 

Amy was the first to see it. She gasped and pointed skyward. "Look!" she screamed. "Half the moon is GONE?!?" Sonic and Tails looked up into the night and saw what she did – the still glowing red crater that had become part of the moon's landscape. The three of them gaped in horror. There was only one man who had such intents of destruction – this had Robotnik's glove prints all over it.   
"Eggman!" Sonic snarled, clenching his fist in anger. "Oh man, that guy never gives up!"   
Tails nodded. Only he would do something like that. Tails knew however that he didn't have any machines powerful enough to do that kind of damage. "But how did he manage to harness all that energy?" Tails asked.   
'Good question,' Sonic thought to himself, pacing back and forth. Thinking hard, Sonic started recalling the events from the last two days. Then it hit him – Shadow had stolen the Chaos Emerald from the bank. And there was a reason why, too. "It's gotta be the power of the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic snapped his fingers. "Yeah! That's why they were looking for 'em!"   
'Chaos Emeralds?' Tails thought, reaching into the Tornado 2. "You mean… like this one?" he asked, pulling out a jewel that shone with a yellow glow – the last of the Chaos Emeralds.   
Sonic and Amy stared at the fox in surprise. Tails had a Chaos Emerald? "Tails?" Sonic spluttered.   
"I've been doing a lot of research on this thing since I was given it. The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets," he explained to the two. "I can use that to track down the others and find out where Eggman is!"   
Sonic raised his eyebrows. "Cool! Let's do it!" 

Tails nodded and jumped into the Cyclone – he'd switched into mech mode for landing – and was about to start analyzing the emerald when sirens blazed all around them. "DON'T MOVE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! THE THREE OF YOU, PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" came an amplified voice. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Not again! Tails, I'll distract the cops! You find a way out of here! Find Eggman!"   
"Got it!" Tails called, but Sonic was already gone. He sighed and fired up the engine. Amy stood in place, thinking of what the cops had called to them. "The three of you? …hey, wait a minute! That means me too!"   
Tails was beginning to pilot the Cyclone forward by now. Amy wailed and ran after him. 

*****

Knuckles looked around him in despair. "I didn't expect the inside of the mines to be like this…" he muttered. Knuckles had spent all of the previous day as well as today looking for the Master Emerald pieces. His search had brought him to Pumpkin Hill, where he had added another three shards to his backpack, then found a hatch that had brought him down here, into the mines. But the mines were almost totally flooded, and Knuckles had a thing about water. "This is going to be harder than I thought," he sighed, then listened closely to the ringing. 

He turned his head upwards and saw that a piece had somehow become lodged in the roof. There was no way he could reach it from climbing and gliding, so he pulled his sunglasses down from his forehead and looked around. There had to be a hidden spring or something around somewhere… ahh, there it was. On top of the water wheel. Knuckles glided over to it, then climbed up the wall and jumped to the top. Walking over to the spring, he let himself be bounced into the air, and yanked the shard out of its hiding place as he dropped back to the floor. Knuckles placed it in his satchel, relief coming over him. There were only two more pieces left to find, other than the ones that Rouge had taken. Knuckles frowned again – the ringing in his head indicated that both pieces were underwater. Crud. 

*****

"Stupid military! Stupid, stupid military!" Tails yelled, jumping the Cyclone just in time to avoid getting blown away by a missile fired by a jet that had shot overhead. There'd been about ten of them now that had taken a shot at him in the last half hour. "We're on your side!" Tails screamed out, shaking his fist at them. Amy was pretty unnerved too. She had been sitting in the back of this killing machine all the while, never knowing when a stray shot or missile might mean the end of her, or what the idiot stunt the driver up front was going to pull next. She was scared, and more importantly, she was missing Sonic. She wondered if her heroic hedgehog was okay as the Cyclone hovered over a large gap that had been blown into the bridge. Neither of them knew that the previous night, it had been Shadow running from the military on this very same bridge. But at that point, neither of them would have particularly cared either. 

*****

Big the Cat looked up as the machine roared over him where he sat, fishing on the edge of the bridge. Strange. That… thing… looked a lot like the plane he'd used to escape from the Egg Carrier when he'd rescued Froggy. And the pilot looked like the fox who'd caught Froggy temporarily… Big reeled in his line, heaved his pole over his shoulder, and set off after them, his curiosity aroused. 

*****

Knuckles gasped as he emerged from the water and shook his dreadlocks, spraying water everywhere. 'I must have made a wrong turn somewhere,' he figured, breathing in the glorious air that he'd been lacking the last few minutes. It had been a turn that had almost killed him though – he'd swum down this tunnel in search of an emerald shard, and when he'd grabbed it, he'd figured he was closer to the air at the other end than where he'd come in. He'd been correct, but had still barely made it. Pulling himself out of the water, he pulled his satchel around and placed the piece inside, then looked around. He didn't want to try that tunnel again anytime soon – he'd pressed his luck enough for one night already. But… there didn't appear to be any other way out of this shaft… Knuckles sighed. Maybe there was a weak spot in the wall, where he could burrow his way out with his shovel claws? That was risky – he could easily dig straight into a water filled shaft and drown himself. His eyes suddenly fell on a totem pole that was standing nearby. Something was hanging from it. Knuckles cautiously moved closer to inspect it. It was a necklace, with what seemed to be a breathing apparatus attached. Knuckles grinned – it was some kind of oxygen tank that would go around his neck! Now he could swim for a much longer period of time without having to surface for air. Excitedly, Knuckles slipped it on and dived back into the water. That last emerald shard was as good as his! 

*****

Morning light shone on Station Square, the sun dealing its warm glow on Mobius as it rose. Tails warily peeked out from the alley that he and Amy were hiding in. Not a cop in sight. Tails breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe they'd finally lost them. He turned around and climbed back into the Cyclone.   
"All clear?" Amy asked him nervously.   
Tails nodded. "All clear," he murmured, and started rummaging around in the back. Amy sighed in relief too, and jumped out to stretch her feet. Tails finally found what he wanted – a walkie talkie. He pushed the talk button, and spoke into it. "Sonic, come in!"   
There was no reply for a moment – instead came the muffled sounds of G.U.N robots exploding. "Sonic?" Tails asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.   
"Sheesh, there always seems to be a lot of cops around when you don't need them!" came Sonic's reply. "Tails! Any new yet?" he asked.   
Tails shook his head and pressed the talk button again. "For some reason, I'm not getting a signal from the six remaining Chaos Emeralds. Maybe Eggman took them into outer space!"   
"Outer space?" Amy asked. Wow… she'd always wanted to go into space! Maybe she'd get a chance now! Her musings were interrupted by the clanking of the sewer cover at her feet being pushed up, and out of its hole. Oh no! Had the military tracked them down again? 

To both her and Tails' relief, it was only the familiar snout of a red dreadlocked echidna that peeked out. "Knuckles!" Amy exclaimed, wiping her brow.   
"Hey guys, long time no see!" Knuckles greeted them warily. He too had been running around all night. "I must have gotten lost in the mines. Finding the pieces of the Master Emerald was harder than I thought it would be." At least he only had to get the pieces that the bat girl had taken now.   
Amy ran over and started trying to pull him out of the hole in the ground. He was standing directly in Tails' path! "Hey, where are you going?" whined Knuckles, grabbing onto the edge in alarm.   
"Move aside, Knuckles!" Amy grunted, tugging at him.   
Tails paid them little attention as he continued his conversation with Sonic. "I just found out that Eggman's having a transmitted conversation with the President!" he told his friend. "If we can get into the President's limo, then we can find out where Eggman's broadcasting from!"   
"Okay, let's meet up there!" Sonic agreed, then signed off. 

Tails pushed a button, and the legs of the Cyclone swung underneath the machine, wheels extending. He was tracking the President on Route 101, so it would be best to pursue in a car. Knuckles ducked as Tails pulled out and turned onto the road, then sped into high gear.   
"Hey! Wait for me, Tails!" Amy cried, raising a hand in desperation.   
Knuckles regarded her curiously. Could this girl be any more annoying? Then the sight of the damaged moon, slowly descending out of view caught his eyes. "Eggman did that?!??" he gaped.   
Amy nodded. "Yeah…"   
Knuckles stared for a minute, then turned around and pointed to his back. "Grab on."   
Amy hesitated, then wrapped her arms around his waist reluctantly. Knuckles nodded. "Okay, hold on tight!" he ordered, leaping into the air and setting off to glide out of the city.   
"Where are we going?" Amy asked.   
"Back to where the Master Emerald was shattered," Knuckles replied. "That's the last place I saw Eggman, so maybe I can track him from there."   
"I saw him yesterday at Prison Island…" Amy started. Knuckles turned his head to look at her.   
"Do you really want to go back to that place?" he asked.   
Amy shut up. He had made his point. 

*****

The President's limo sped down the interstate, away from Station Square and towards the secret safe house that had been arranged especially for him. The President sat inside and stared glumly out at the streets whizzing by as his secretary gave him the scoop.   
"Since the incident last night, the entire world has been in a state of panic. Our financial services have been impacted, and our satellite communications are down. An emergency meeting has been called with the secretary of defense at noon. Mr. President, this is a major crisis."   
Now THAT he knew without having to be told. He shook his head. "Spare me the details," he told her, turning back to the TV screen in front of him. "What is it exactly that you want? Dr. Robotnik?"   
The evil genius' distorted image laughed confidently on the screen. "I know that you are a very busy man, Mr. President, so I'll get right to the point!" he cackled. "My demands are simple. Surrender completely to the Eggman Empire, and make no attempts to resist! Otherwise…" the doctor grinned evilly, pausing to let his words sink in.   
"Otherwise…?" the President prodded him.   
"Otherwise," Robotnik continued, "your country will cease to exist! You have just under 9 hours left to respond!" 

The President sighed and shut his eyes. What other choice did he have? He looked up when he heard a cry from outside: "No way!" He turned his head to gaze out the window and saw the world renowned hero Sonic the Hedgehog running alongside the limo. He grinned at the President, and leapt in through the sunroof, Tails right behind him.   
"Sonic!" the Eggman spluttered, unable to do anything as Sonic switched the TV off. "Eggman Empire? Yeah right!" he snorted as Tails started investigating.   
The President stared at the two in alarm. "Oh no!" he exclaimed. "What have you done?"   
"Don't worry, Mr. President!" Sonic reassured him. "Everything's under control!" The hedgehog turned to his partner. "Got it Tails?"   
Tails grinned as he victoriously held up a floppy disk, containing the transcript of the conversation the President had just had with their nemesis. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "He's transmitting from the space colony ARK!"   
Sonic gave him a thumbs up. "Okay! Let's move!" he yelled before jumping out through the sunroof.   
"Wait up, Sonic!" Tails called, jumping out after him.   
"Hey! Wait!" the President ordered them, but the two were already gone. The secretary, failing to notice any of this, called for her boss' attention again. "Mr. President – we're receiving an incoming signal from our agent…" 

**Chapter 9 – I will not let him take it over** 

"Eggman Empire? Yeah, right!" Sonic snorted, then the monitor went blank, the signal lost.   
"Blast!" Robotnik yelled, bringing his fist down on the computer console and stomping around in frustration. Shadow turned away with his arms folded firmly across his chest. That blue hedgehog was beginning to annoy him.   
"What are you so upset about?" came a chirpy voice as Rouge walked into the room, returning from whatever business she had been up to. When neither answered, Rouge shrugged to herself and changed the topic. "Well, that was certainly impressive! You've managed to create turmoil on the whole planet!" she announced. "Does this mean that we now control the planet, and can do as we please?"   
Shadow shook his head, staring off into space. "At this rate, the cannon will take too long to charge up. To unleash its full potential, we need all seven Chaos Emeralds."   
"Where in the world have you been?" asked the Eggman, angrily turning towards Rouge.   
Rouge looked confused. "Something happen?" she asked, perplexed.   
"Our threats fell on death ears," Shadow sighed, still looking away from the other two in the room.   
Rouge grinned to herself. The manic depressive and the rage filled mechalomaniac – Shadow and Eggman made quite a comical pair at times. "Look at you, throwing a tantrum like a little kid!" she smirked. "How totally embarrassing!" 

Robotnik glared at Rouge. They had some unfinished business yet. "Don't forget your side of the deal, bat girl! We only have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds that you promised to deliver to me!" he reminded her menacingly. "So, where's my emerald?"   
Rouge pulled out a newspaper clipping she'd come across, knowing that question would eventually come up. "Here," she offered. "I found this!"   
The doctor gave it an indifferent glance – it was dated several months back, so probably held little relevant information to him. Then the pictures beside the text caught his attention – they clearly showed a Chaos Emerald, held in the possession of Sonic's pesky little sidekick! 

"Why didn't you show me this before?!?" he asked, snatching the paper away from her. Shadow turned around in interest as Robotnik started reading aloud. "'Station Square saved from a life threatening missile attack." The Eggman paused for a minute to mope again. He had been so close to reducing the city to rubble! Grunting, he continued reading. "The city has awarded its prize to the boy who saved us all. Miles 'Tails' Prower was given the Chaos Emerald at a ceremony held at City Hall.'" Robotnik looked up at his lackies as he set the paper aside. So. THAT was where the last emerald was! "This makes things a whole lot easier!" he told Shadow and Rouge, giving his orders. "Hurry! Go back to Earth and find him! I want that emerald!" Then he left, to run some tests on the cannon.   
"Did you get that?" Rouge asked Shadow.   
Shadow didn't answer. Instead he simply muttered, "Soon enough, Maria…" and walked towards the door. Rouge stared after him. What was with that guy, anyway? She looked around. Both Shadow and Eggman had left the room, so she pulled back her glove and spoke into her communicator. "This is Rouge reporting," she said softly, incase either of her two 'colleagues' were nearby. "I have yet to confirm whether or not Shadow is the Ultimate Lifeform or not. I shall continue my research and have a follow up report soon. Just a reminder… don't forget about my jewels!" Rouge smiled to herself, then headed for the exit. She had a fox to track down. 

*****

Tails pulled into the alley that he, Knuckles and Amy had been in only a little earlier. But to his and Sonic's surprise, both Amy and Knuckles had disappeared. The two friends looked at each other in confusion. "Where'd they go?" Tails wondered, scratching his head.   
Sonic looked at him quizzically. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked.   
Tails nodded hesitantly. "Well… pretty sure…" He reached for his walkie talkie and pushed the button. "Amy, are you there?" he asked.   
"Tails! We've found Eggman's base!" came the reply.   
Tails and Sonic looked at each other in excitement. Eggman's base?   
"Where are you?" Sonic asked.   
Knuckles came on the radio then. "We're someone in the Sand Ocean zone. You can follow the signal from this walkie talkie, right?"   
Tails fiddled with the controls in the Cyclone, and brought up a radar screen with a blinking green light. "Got it!" Tails exclaimed.   
Sonic jumped in the back. "Okay, stay where you are, guys! We'll meet you there!"   
Knuckles sighed. "Okay, well hurry up. I wanna get a piece of the Eggman too, ya know. Over and out."   
"Hold on tight Sonic!" Tails called, converting the Cyclone back into the Tornado. "Here we go!" 

*****

Unbeknownst to either Sonic or Tails, they had a tail as they soared through the sky. The Batmobile roared along Route 280, following the Tornado's trek through the air. Rouge spun the wheel frantically, dodging a tour bus here, a taxi cab there, speeding through tunnels and around curves, desperately trying to keep up. But eventually, she ran out of highway, and found she was now going in the opposite direction the plane was. Sighing, she spoke into her communicator. "Shadow! They're in that blue plane, spotted at 10 o' clock!" she reported.   
"Copy that. I'm in pursuit," came the reply. 

*****

Shadow had blazed through the region that was filled with hills shaped like jack-o-lanterns, unknowing that the red dreadlocked echidna friend of his rival had been here just yesterday, searching for shards of the Master Emerald. Grinding down rails and bouncing up hover-springs, Shadow was a black (and yellow at times) blur as he progressed through the area. But he too was forced to come to a halt when he reached a cliff that went nowhere. He turned around in a circle, scanning for another platform he could jump to from his current position. But there was nothing – he'd reached a dead end. He looked up at the plane he'd been trailing, and noticed for the first time that it was heading towards the desert. 

"Doctor," he spoke into his walkie talkie, "they're heading straight for us. What should we do?"   
Robotnik was quick with his reply. "Just sit tight," he told him. "I've got them on radar. There's no way they can escape! I don't know what they have planned, but I'll be sure to give them a warm welcome…" 

*****

"Inside that pyramid?" Sonic asked, peering out at the towering ancient structure in the distance. Knuckles nodded. "I saw Eggman go inside the pyramid. And more importantly, I saw that bat girl go with him." The echidna punched his fist into the other. He was eager to catch up with her and reclaim what belonged to him. "You saw them too, right?" he asked, turning to Amy.   
"Well yeah…" Amy nodded.   
Sonic sighed as he stared at the pyramid. 'It always seems to be about pyramids,' he thought to himself glumly. 'First Sandopolis, then the one in the Mystic Ruins, and now this.' Sonic hated pyramids. They were all the same – seen one, you seen them all. They were all dark and gloomy and full of booby traps. But still, if that was Eggman's base… 

"We should probably be able to get into space from there," Sonic realized. "I don't know what this space colony's all about, but I'm gonna find and kick their empirial butts!"   
"Right on!" Knuckles smiled confidently.   
"I'll go and find the entrance!" Tails declared, striding off in the Cyclone. Knuckles, Sonic and Amy all followed at a distance as he jumped from pillar to pillar, platform to platform, homing his laser blaster at the G.U.N. robots and badniks that he came across. Tails recognized the robotic coconut-throwing monkeys – it was a definite sign that they were closing in on Eggman's headquarters. Tails was determined to help out. Amy had stolen his thunder when he'd gone to free Sonic, and the hedgehog hero who had taken him under his arm hadn't been around to see his victory against Robotnik in Station Square. This time around, Tails was determined to prove to Sonic that he could be counted on. 

*****

Sonic smashed the last robot in the room apart and came to a halt. It struck him that the robots around here looked quite a lot like the one that had freed Amy from her cell aboard the Egg Carrier, E-102 "Gamma". 'Must be a new model,' he thought to himself. "That egghead sure loves mechanical things, doesn't he?" he grunted, turning back to his travel mates. Tails nodded, not really paying attention to him, but moving forward to inspect the door ahead of them. "I bet he's got one or two spaceships around here!" Sonic continued, looking towards Knuckles and Amy. 

The group was deep inside the base now – almost at the center of it. Tails had cleared the path through to a side entrance, and Sonic had then lead them to the door that lay ahead of them now. Which was locked, Tails realized. "We're going to need a key to open this door," Tails informed his friends, then spotted that there were keyholes not only in the nose of the Eggman logo plastered on the door, but in each of the eyes too. "Or three…" he corrected himself.   
"Couldn't we just blast through?" asked Amy, who was quite spooked by this building. She was eager to see some serious damage done to it.   
Tails shook his head. "See this?" he asked, rapping on the stonework. "It's graphite. Seriously strong stuff. The Cyclone's lasers wouldn't even make a dent in this!"   
"No problem!" Sonic assured him. "We can find the keys, right Knuckles?"   
Knuckles looked up with a frown. "Why do I have to find the keys?" he complained. "Can't we just find another way in?"   
Tails shook his head again. "Too time consuming. It might take hours to find another way in. If there is one. AND it's unlocked."   
Knuckles sighed. Looked like it was up to him then. Sonic gave him a thumbs up. "We're counting on you, buddy!" he winked. "The world's greatest treasure hunter!" 

******

Knuckles jumped out of the water and shook the water off his dreadlocks. "What kind of idiot leaves keys in the water anyway?" he asked himself as he shoved the two he'd found submerged in his backpack. They were starting to slightly rust already. 'Overweight fool,' he thought, climbing up to the tower in the center of the area he was in. "Death Chamber" a sign had greeted him, when he'd burrowed his way inside, in search of keys. He had what he'd come for now though, so he started towards the hole he'd made in the wall. An evil and loud cackle stopped him in his tracks and sent a chill down his spine. "Who's there?" he growled, swirling around. He gasped at the spectre that had materialized in front of him - a large white figure with a mouth even wider than Eggman's. "What?!? A ghost?!?" Knuckles asked in surprise, taking a cautious step backwards. Just as well he did too, as King Boom Boo leapt forward and took a bite at him. Knuckles barely avoided him. "Yow!" he cried, leaping backwards again. This guy didn't mess around. Knuckles almost fled then, but then shook his head and stood his ground. He wasn't about to let some big spook scare him. 

Knuckles studied the ghoul. It didn't have any apparent weaknesses visible to him – unless it was that huge mouth, but he certainly didn't want to go near it. His view went to a much smaller ghost sitting behind the King. It was holding an hour glass for some reason. Maybe that held the key to his defeat. Knuckles ran around the tower, away from the ghost that was tailing him, but skidded to a halt when Boo turned around and came face to face with him. Knuckles yelped in surprise and turned just in time to avoid the gaping mouth of the ghoul. Knuckles turned and ran again, dodging blue fireballs that were hurled at him. Boo changed directions again, but Knuckles had expected it this time, and had turned direction before the ghost knew what had happened. Knuckles wished he had Sonic's speed right now. Fortunately for him though, his own was sufficient. The echidna came up behind Boo, and smashed his fists into the smaller ghost that held the hourglass. The ghost vanished into thin air, the timepiece flipping upside down and opening the hatches in the ceiling. Sunlight streamed into the room, weakening and shrinking Boo. The ghost yowled in pain, then dove into the floor and disappeared. Knuckles could see where he was though – a shadow crawled along the floor away from him. "You can run, but you can't hide!" Knuckles growled, running towards it. The shadow seemed to sense his movement, and shifted up into the wall in the center of the tower. Knuckles grunted. "Crafty thing, aren't you?" he muttered, leaping onto the wall, directly on top of the shadow, then bashing his claws in on top of it. Boo jumped out of the wall and fled around the tower, but Knuckles wsan't going to let him get away that easily. Racing around in the other direction, he relled back his fist, and slammed it into the surprised ghost's mouth. Boo howled in pain, then ceased to exist. Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief. Time to rendezvous with the others. 

*****

Big strolled into the chamber just in time to see a large door opening, Sonic stretching, and Knuckles wiping his brow. "That was pretty rough," the echidna murmured.   
"We did it!" Tails exclaimed, pumping his fist. "Let's go Amy!" he said, signaling the pink hedgehog. Amy nodded and jumped forward, but came to a terrified halt when she heard a familiar voice. "You little thieves!" Robotnik sneered from the opposite side of the room they'd just gained access to. "Did you really think you'd get out of here alive?"   
'Oh yeah! Time for some action!' Sonic thought to himself, taking a fighting stance. "Come and get some, Eggman!" he goaded him.   
Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Big were already running towards a nearby door. "Sonic!" Tails called, concerned for his friend's welfare.   
Sonic waved him on. "Just leave it to me!" he yelled at his sidekick. Tails hesitated, then ran after the others. Sonic could take care of himself, after all.   
"This time, I'll take your lives as well as the Chaos Emerald!" Robotnik declared. "I call on you to take care of these pests! Come out, my servant!" he ordered. 

Sonic wasn't quite prepared for what happened next – from the center of the room, in the hole of the ring-shaped platform that he stood on, a massive hand rose out of the depths and grabbed the ledge, nearly crushing the hedgehog. "Whoa!" he yelped as he jumped aside. Then out of the quicksand rose the large, animate statue made of stone that the arm was attached to. The Egg Golem. From the doorway on the other side of the room, Robotnik chuckled at his own cleverness. Sonic glared at him. "That's all you got?" he asked. "Some stupid over-sized block o' stone?" Robotnik glared back. "Go my pet!" he cried. "Crush that blue hedgehog, Sonic!" The golem acted, slamming its fist down on the platform that Sonic stood. But he'd already made a run for it, dodging the other fist too, and ran around the platform. As he came up to the rear of the monstrosity, the platforms sticking out of the golem's back caught his attention. The ends shone a bright yellow, making them pretty hard to miss. Sonic's eyes followed them upwards, until he noticed the large canister attached to the top of Egg Golem's head. The hedgehog grinned himself – once again, the doctor had made the fatal mistake of making "the perfect weapon to destroy his nemesis with," then painted its weak spots with neon colours. Sonic leapt into the air, curled himself into a ball, then powered up a homing attack. A flash of blue was all that was visible as Sonic smashed into each of the platforms, then slammed into his target at the pinnacle. Egg Golem was devastated by this – it frantically spun around in a circle, smoke pouring from it. Sonic landed back on the platform, then jumped into the air again screaming a war cry that sounded something like, "TEEEEEEEIIIIIII-YAAAAAAHH!!!!" He pumped his legs forward and kicked off the canister, did a somersault, and catapulted backwards through the doorway that his friends had run, leaving the Golem to go haywire. Robotnik moaned, then moved to pursue his foe. "When Sonic struck his head, he must have broken the restraining mechanism!" he complained to himself. "What a piece of junk!" 

'Piece of junk?' The Egg Golem was still functioning enough to hear that, and turned towards its former master. With the restraining canister now sinking somewhere in the quicksand below, there was nothing stopping it from reaching out to grab him. The Eggman looked up just in time to get out of the way. "Nooooooo!" he whined. 'Why does this always happen to me?' he sulked. He would have to destroy his own creation if he was to survive, and all the while Sonic was getting away! 

Robotnik was angry now. How dare this revolting robot get in his way? Luckily for him, he had been sitting in the Eggmobile during this confrontation. That, at least, remained loyal to his command. He slammed his hand down on the fire button, and let the bazooka blast at the golem. He knew the weak spots in the monster, and started chipping away large pieces of stone in the chest of the beast. Golem retaliated by sweeping its hands at him. The doctor jumped onto the section of platform that Sonic had stood on previously, as the golem's bashing it had pushed it down a bit. The hands harmlessly swept over him as he continued shooting at the chest. A few stones fell away, then he saw what he was looking for. The dynamite packs he'd installed, in case of an emergency. Quickly, lock on with the laser blaster… Golem saw what he was trying to do, and slammed his fists down on the platforms to either side of him, then charged forward with his head. Robotnik gasped and tried to get out of the way, but didn't quite make it. The Egg Golem struck him a terrible blow, damaging several systems as it did so. Robotnik retaliated by firing the laser blaster, striking the dynamite packs. They blew, taking out large chunks of stone as they did so. The Egg Golem went down, and didn't come back up. Robotnik wiped his brow. "That was too close…" he muttered. The Eggmobile was damaged, and worse, Sonic had gotten away… hadn't he? Surely he must have by now! The doctor checked the computers. 

*****

"Green light for launch! Launch in 10 seconds! 10! 9! 8! 7…"   
Sonic once more thanked the powers that were that he had super speed as he sprinted up the gangplank and dove through the door of the shuttle. He barely made it through as the gangplank moved away, the rocket fired up, and lifted into space. 

**Chapter 10 – Shot into space** 

"Hi doctor! How are things going?" Rouge asked, speaking into her communicator.   
"Not so good," Robotnik sighed. "They managed to escape – I think they got out in the shuttle."   
Rouge's eyes went wide. "What do you mean they escaped?" she asked with fake incredulosity. She shook her head. "Doesn't matter – I'll go after them myself! Can you tell me the password for the main space colony computer?" she asked innocently.   
The doctor paused hesitantly. "What for?" he asked, still not quite trusting her.   
"So I can turn on the defense measures, of course! Why else would I want it?"   
"Yes… of course, Rouge." Robotnik shook his head. This girl had stolen three… no, four Chaos Emeralds for him, and helped him track down another. He was just being paranoid. "Okay, the password is MA-RI-A…" 

*****

Sonic stared out the window in awe. "So this is the space colony where Eggman's hiding!" he exclaimed, gazing out at it. Amy, Big and Knuckles also regarded it with quite an amount of curiosity.   
"Check out the underside of it, Sonic," Knuckles pointed. The cannon is like a nose – the bottom of the ARK looks like Eggman's face!"   
Sonic nodded grimly. "Yeah, just like the Death Egg." The hedgehog remembered the massive satellite that he and Tails had destroyed together, years ago. That had been his first trip into space…   
Tails looked up in astonishment from working on the Cyclone. He'd been poking around in the cargo bay, and found several crates containing items that would make pretty nifty upgrades to his weapon. "But… that's impossible!" he exclaimed, running to the window to look for himself. Tails scratched his head in confusion. "But… the ARK is over fifty years old! How could it have possibly been designed to look like Eggman?" 

The group was so caught up in this puzzle that they failed to notice the large shard of rock that the autopilot had not picked up on. The laser blast that had torn a new crater into the moon had sent debris flying in all directions, creating an asteroid belt around Mobius, and the ARK. The autopilot was programmed only to go straight towards the ARK though, and not initiate evasive maneuvers, so the roof of the shuttle banged into the rock, knocking them over and slightly off course. All aboard exclaimed their surprise as they were knocked off their feet, and boxes flew all about the cockpit. Tails sat up in surprise and blinked. "Is everyone alright?" he asked, rubbing his rear. Knuckles had landed right by the main controls and computers, and gasped when a blinking red light caught his attention. "Oh no!" he groaned. "The hatch door's open!" He punched the button to shut it, hoping he wasn't too late.   
"Don't sweat it Knuckles!" Sonic said, trying to calm him down. "The only thing in the cargo hatch is those Master Emera…" Sonic stopped when he saw several green pieces of stone floating in space amongst the asteroids. Whoops.   
"What do you mean, 'Don't sweat it?!?'" Knuckles asked, getting angry. He hadn't busted his gut collecting those pieces just to lose them again! He started punching buttons all over the cockpit in desperation. "Stop this thing right now!"   
"Hey! What are you doing?!?" Sonic asked, struggling to his feet. "We're gonna crash if you keep that up!"   
Knuckles ignored him and pulled another lever. Sonic's eyes went wide with horror. "Oh no!" he screamed. "DON'T TOUCH THAT LEVER!!!"   
Too late. The space shuttle started spinning out of control, throwing its passengers all around the cockpit, screaming in terror. 

*****

Rouge stepped into the main control room and started tapping away at the keyboard. "Tricking that old doctor is too easy!" she laughed, getting the main entry screen up. "Okay, time to get to work! Password is MA-RI-A…" Rouge paused. "Maria, hmmm? I've heard that name somewhere before…" she muttered. Shrugging, she started searching through the files until she found what she wanted. "Here it is! Data on the Ultimate Lifeform!" Rouge studied the specs and info, and then came across a picture. A picture that made her jaw drop. "This… this can't be right!" she exclaimed, staring at it wide-eyed. "What is Shadow anyway?!?"   
Just then, a message flashed up on the screen. 'Incoming signal from the Master Emerald.' Rouge couldn't help but smirk. That poor echidna just couldn't keep a hold of his jewels, could he? "Looks like I'll just have to take the last pieces!" she said, switching off the computer and running for the door. 

*****

"What's up with that knucklehead anyway? Trying to take over the shuttle?!?" Sonic ran a hand through his spines, trying to smooth them out. "I thought we were toast for sure!" He turned towards the echidna, expecting an argument, but to his surprise, Knuckles had disappeared. "What? Where's he gone now?" Sonic grumbled.   
"Looks like he bailed…" Tails shrugged. He really had a thing about that Master Emerald.   
Amy changed the subject, peering around at their surroundings. "This place sure looks deserted! Dusty too!" she said, crinkling her nose. The place hadn't been cleaned in decades. Big sneezed, further emphasizing her point.   
"This place was shut down over 50 years ago because of a terrible accident," Tails told them, bringing up what info he'd found on the ARK on the Cyclone's computer. "The first Bernoulli spherical space station, called 'ARK.' Before it was shut down, it was the most advanced research center of its kind, but looking at it now…"   
"Now it's an abandoned ARK, wouldn't you say?" murmured Amy. 'Not so spherical any more,' she thought to herself privately.   
"There's not much time left before Eggman fires that weapon," Sonic reminded them. "Enough with the history lesson – let's get down to business! Let's find that cannon and destroy it"   
"Right!" Tails grinned and nodded. All the years he'd spent at Sonic's side had caused the speedy hedgehog's love of action and adventure to rub off on him too. 

Amy and Sonic leaned in close as Tails brought up a picture of the ARK's super-structure up on his computer. "Someone built this place to be super-reinforced and impenetrable to outside attacks. So, we'll have to make our move from inside," Tails deduced, opening a case to reveal a shining yellow stone. Both Sonic and Amy looked at him in confusion. The Chaos Emerald Tails had been awarded was still visible in the backseat of the Cyclone. So… what was this?   
"Isn't that a Chaos Emerald?" Amy asked, her eyes betraying her confusion. Tails smiled. Perfect!   
"It looks like it, doesn't it?" he smiled. "But it's actually a fake I made after researching the real emerald! It's designed to reverse the energy of the Chaos Emeralds!"   
Sonic nodded with new understanding. His sidekick had most certainly become a valuable asset to the Freedom Fighters. Few would have had the insight, much less the ability to create a device capable of reversing the energies of the emeralds. The Chaos Emeralds, whilst they had many times aided Sonic in defeating Robotnik by transforming him into Super Sonic, were deadly weapons in the wrong hands, not to be taken lightly. "How does it work?" he asked curiously.   
"It has the same wavelengths and properties, but is less powerful than the real one," Tails explained. "It looks so real that even a machine can't tell the difference!" He handed the stone to Sonic, who carefully accepted it. "Sonic, I'll find the power supply and destroy it. You have to find the main control room, okay? That's where the other emeralds should be, powering the cannon."   
Sonic nodded. "So the plan is, I throw in the fake emerald after the power's shut down?" he asked, to be sure he understood the plan. Tails nodded, then the two set off down the corridor, Sonic racing off to the left, and Tails stomping away in the Cyclone to the right. Amy glared after them, and threw her arms up in the air in frustration. "I hate you!" she called after them. "You guys always leave me behind and have all the fun!" At least Big was around to keep her company this time. But when she turned around, she found that the large cat had left too, gone to explore his surroundings. Amy was left alone – and vulnerable – again. 

*****

Knuckles scanned his eyes over the Meteor Herd that was inside the ARK's oxygen bubble again, and sighed. The Master Emerald shards had been blasted inside it, and the auto-defense mechanisms had immediately worked quickly to heal the damage done. He had already grabbed two pieces from where they floated in mid-air amongst the meteors, now he found himself on a platform where some kind of a tower had been built. Why, and what its purpose was remained a mystery to Knuckles. He could care less though. He could tell that a piece of broken Master Emerald had worked its way into it, and that was all that mattered to him. Walking around the tower, he looked up at it for closer examination. It was square in shape, with supporting beams running around the edges at the top and halfway down. At the bottom, there was a retractable floor, which remained in place at the moment, covering up lord only knows what. Knuckles could feel a good amount of heat from there though, and guessed that it housed something that was on fire. The platform was housed on a large asteroid, and had several compartments on the outside, underneath where the floor hid the source of the sweltering heat. And it was one of these compartments that housed the emerald shard he was after. "But how to get to it…?" he mused, placing a glove up against the steel wall. No way he could dig through it. He could have blasted through the wall, but he didn't have any explosives handy… or did he? Looking around, his eyes came to fall on one of the meteorechs that were dotted around the area. There was something… unnatural about it. Knuckles walked over to it cautiously, to take a look at it. There were blinking lights and wires visible on the outside of the thing. This wasn't just any old hunk of rock. Someone had built something into these meteorechs. They were partially mechanical. Acting on a hunch, Knuckles grunted with effort as he lifted up the object, then hurled it at the compartment wall. There was a flash of light and a fireball as the meteorech exploded, and Knuckles shielded his eyes for a moment. When the dust settled, Knuckles grinned victoriously. The shard was his for the taking. 

Placing the piece of broken rock in the safety of his satchel, he looked scoped the area again. The ringing in his head was getting louder – the remaining pieces were on the move. Knuckles looked up and saw something moving in the sky… 'No wait… the space,' he corrected himself. Climbing to the top of the tower to get a better look, he recognized what he was looking at as Rouge flew closer, unaware of his presence in the area. "Bat girl!" he yelled at her. 

*****

Rouge hated to do it. But she had to. To blow her cover at this point, even just to Knuckles, could have disastrous consequences. So, she plucked the last emerald shard she'd been able to track down from the place it floated, hid it safely inside her backpack, and landed on the opposite side of the beam to the red furred Echidna. "Long time no see, treasure hunter," she greeted him with a smile. "Did you find my emerald?"   
Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "That's a good one, your emerald!" he frowned. "Talking to you is a waste of time!"   
Rouge leapt to the retractable floor. "Very well then, if that's the way you want to be, then I'll just take them from you!" she shrugged, as if it was as simple as just saying those words.   
Knuckles leapt down after her, and put up his fists. "Hand over those Master Emerald pieces; give them to me!" he snarled, then ran forward, fists flying. Rouge stepped aside and put her foot out in front of Knuckles. Knuckles gasped and tried to stop himself, but to no avail. He tripped, and over he went. Knuckles jumped to his feet and glared at her. He screamed bloody murder, and leapt at her again. This time Rouge jumped out of the way and let him turn around to face her again. Before any more could happen, the floor started retracting into the walls. Both Knuckles and Rouge jumped to the safety of the beams, then looked down into the depths. Both were equally horrified at what they saw – a pit full of boiling lava. 

The two looked at each other with the same disturbed look on their faces. They had been that close to falling to an extremely painful and gruesome death… Then the anger returned to their eyes. "Stop fooling around and give me back MY emerald!" They both yelled in unison, then stared at each other.   
"What are you talking about?!?" Rouge exclaimed. "You call yourself a hunter, attacking a lady?!? Shame on you!"   
"What kind of lady goes around stealing gems anyway?" Knuckles asked, pointing an accusing mitt at her.   
Rouge pointed right back at him, taking a step forward. "Those belong to me…" she started, then lost her footing, and slipped from the platform. She screamed as she fell backwards, towards the bubbling magma below. She shut her eyes and waited for her to hit… then she felt herself stop in midair, and opened her eyes in surprise. 'What?' 

Knuckles strained with effort, hanging upside down from the beam by his feet and clinging onto Rouge's hand tightly with both gloves, his batlike stance appeared more suited to herself, Rouge considered as she let the strong echidna pull her back upwards. Knuckles grunted as he heaved Rouge up beside him, then found himself staring right into her eyes as she looked right back at him. The two maintained eye contact for only a few seconds before both leapt backwards as if they'd been burned. This time, Rouge was careful to keep her footing. "Keep your hands off me!" she shouted, trying to get a hold of her breath. That had been quite a minute she'd just lived… and almost died through.   
"Is that how you thank someone who saved your life?" Knuckles asked incredulously. He thought he deserved at least a little gratitude for risking his own neck with that stunt.   
"Saving my life, don't think I owe you anything!" Rouge snorted, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would stop flapping about. "You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you? That's why you saved me!"   
Knuckles regarded her coldly. This girl was quite obviously deranged. "Think what you what, I was saving the Master Emerald!" he told her. Well, his instinct had been to save that, but her too…   
Rouge shook her head, then pulled her backpack around and opened it. "No matter what you say, it sounds crazy!" she sighed, then pulled out the emerald shards and tossed them to Knuckles' feet. The echidna was unable to contain his surprise. "Wha… what are you doing?" he gaped. Was this a trick?   
"Just take them!" Rouge frowned, folding her arms across her chest and turning away. "They stink, like echidnas do!"   
Knuckles rolled his eyes as he pulled the pieces he had located out of his satchel. "If that's what you thought, you should have just said so in the first place!" he muttered, as he gathered all the pieces together. There was a flash of green light as they fused together, and then the Master Emerald stood between Knuckles and Rouge, just as it did in their first meeting. Knuckles ran a hand over it in relief. It was whole again – not a single piece missing. "finally," he sighed as he placed his hand on the top, and let it shrink down to a size small enough to fit back in his satchel. He looked up at Rouge, who sensed he was staring at her, and turned. "What?" she asked, a tone of annoyance apparent in her voice.   
Knuckles looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry… if I hurt you…" he said, then remembered why he was here. Eggman! That cannon! He'd better go help Sonic and Tails! He gave her half a wave, then turned and ran back the way he came. Rouge smiled. "We should get going," she whispered, then ran the other way, pausing only once to look back at the departing echidna that had saved her life. 

*****

"What is Rouge doing anyway?" Robotnik asked, peering at the security cameras from where he sat in his pyramid base. He had seen Sonic and his peewee pep squad enter the ARK, and then all head off in separate directions. Shadow said nothing, but turned his attention to a readout from one of the computers. The doctor peered at it, and a look of surprise came across his face. "That's odd… this is getting a readout from two separate Chaos Emeralds!" The Eggman pondered the possibilities of this. Perhaps… perhaps the fox boy had been able to construct a fake one, to try and confuse him? He smirked and stroked his moustache. Well, he was onto their little game. "Did they really think they could trick me with that fake emerald?" he mused. Shadow again said nothing, but strode towards the space transporter. The doctor held up his hand. "Wait Shadow! I'm the one who should be telling them the end is near, not you!" Shadow obediently halted, but not without a slight sense of annoyance. He wanted to get at that blue hedgehog. Robotnik climbed into the Eggmobile and pulled his goggles down over his eyes. "Now is the time to end this long drawn out battle, once and for all, and to declare myself the world's greatest genius, ever!" he declared, glancing at his colleague. "If anything should happen to me, I'm counting on you to finish the job, Shadow!" he told him, then moved onto the pd on the floor, and let the purple teleportation rays surround him. Shadow nodded at his departing form. Oh, he would finish the job alright, whether the doctor was put out of commission or not. Soon, it would all be over. 'Soon,' he told himself. He waited a moment, then stepped onto pad and waited to also be teleported. Shadow had his own agenda, and he was going to make sure that he followed it. 

*****

"Darn! Why do they always leave a sweet little innocent girl like me all alone?" Amy wondered aloud, kicking her foot against the wall she was leaning on. Robotnik wondered that too. "Can I help you with something, young lady?" he asked, making his presence aware to her. The young hedgehog turned around and barely stopped herself from screaming when she saw the laser blaster pointed straight at her face. "Dr. Eggman!" she gasped.   
The doctor grinned at her evilly. "I see my reputation recedes me. If you value your life, you will tell me where Sonic and Tails are!" 

*****

Tails was in the main engine room, blasting anything that blinked or moved. He'd been rather annoyed to find that there were homing missiles awaiting anyone who dared to try and sabotage the machinery. But the Cyclone's lasers made short work of them, as well as vital machinery parts. He nodded with satisfaction as the generator shut down. "Tails! I've found the main control room!" came Sonic's voice over the walkie talkie. Tails wiped the sweat from his brow, and replied. "Good, I've shut down the main generator! Tell me what you see!" he requested.   
"Umm… let's see here…" Tails could almost see Sonic surveying his surroundings. "Okay, there's a main computer console, and above that there's a pillar with a glass covering over it. There's seven slots in the pillar, and six of the Chaos Emeralds are in them."   
Tails considered this. "Is there a button on the console to slide the glass out of the way?" he asked.   
Sonic backed up to look at the console, and saw one labeled, 'cover.' "Found it, Tails!" he nodded.   
"Push it, Sonic."   
Sonic pushed the button, and the glass covering slid aside. The Chaos Emeralds were now within his reach. "Bingo, pal!" he grinned, reaching for the jewels. "I'll grab the Chaos Emeralds…"   
Tails gasped in alarm. "Sonic, wait!" he yelled. "They're giving off too much energy right now! You could overload the machine if you tried to take them!"   
Sonic paused and frowned. He had no urge to roast himself. "So what should I do?" he asked.   
"Got the fake?" Tails asked.   
Sonic glanced at the jewel in his other paw. "Yup," he replied.   
"Good." Tails breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, now put that emerald…"   
A voice over the walkie talkie interrupted him. "I have Amy Rose!" it crowed. Eggman! "Tails! Tell Sonic to meet you back at the research facility right now!" 

*****

"Sonic!" Sonic frowned at the walkie talkie. The energy field was wrecking havoc on it – he was having trouble making out what was being said. He knew that the voice he'd heard was definitely Eggman though. "Sonic!" Tails cried, static almost drowning him out. "Amy's been…" then the voice was silenced, and nothing but static was audible. Sonic pushed the talk button.   
"I didn't copy that, Tails! What's happened to Amy? Tails?!?"   
No answer. Sonic muttered something nasty and looked up at the Chaos Emeralds, sitting right in front of him. The urge to take them and run was almost overwhelming, but he heeded Tails' warning. He looked at the fake Chaos Emerald and sighed. Where had Tails wanted him to put it? Logic would say in the remaining slot, but what if he was wrong? Everything could go haywire and blow up in his face! No, better he go kick Eggman's overly large can first, then get Tails' advice on what to do. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late…   
"What am I talking about?" he asked himself. "They call me Sonic for a reason – I don't know the meaning of late!" 

*****

Big looked up in surprise as Sonic rushed past him, a look of determination on his face. 'He must be in a hurry,' Big figured. 'He didn't even stop to say hello!' The cat shrugged to himself. Oh well. He had things to do too. Big still wasn't quite sure as to why they'd come up here into space, but the view sure was great. He walked along the corridor for a little longer, until his sharp yellow eyes noticed an entrance that had been cleverly disguised to look like part of the wall. "Hmmm… think I'll see what's behind this door…" 

*****

Tails whirled around from his seat in the Cyclone as the door behind him opened, then sighed in relief as he saw Sonic enter the room. Now things would be okay. Sonic on the other hand, had a grim look on his face. Eggman was in his mech in the center of the room, a laser blaster in his hand aimed straight at Amy's frightened face. He put his hands on his hips and regarded his nemesis.   
"Let's get down to business first, shall we, Sonic?" the doctor asked. "Hand over the Chaos Emerald, slowly, and then we'll talk about your girlfriend. That is, if you really care for her!"   
Sonic felt his cheeks burn. Amy? His girlfriend?!? He very almost turned his back and told Eggman to shoot her, but with a great amount of willpower, managed to swallow his pride and consider his options instead. An idea came to him – 'Handing over the fake emerald, I can kill two birds with one stone!' Sonic turned to Tails, who instantly caught onto his idea, and nodded with a small smile. Sonic nodded too, and pulled the yellow stone out from behind his back. "Want this, huh?" Sonic asked, tossing it idly up and down in one hand.   
Robotnik nodded. "Put the emerald down right there in front of me, and back off." He practically ground up the last two words as he said them, as a warning for the hedgehog not to try anything funny. 

Sonic casually walked forward, a false look of fear on his face. "You've turned into a big time villain, doctor!" he said with mock wonder, voice dripping with sarcasm. Robotnik didn't reply, but instead watched as Sonic walked forward, then leant down to place the emerald on the floor. 'NOW!' He thought, punching a button on the dashboard. 

Not even Sonic was fast enough to escape this trap – a glass tube came down from the roof, capturing him inside. A look of surprise came across his face. Eggman had outsmarted him!   
"You thought you could trick me with that fake emerald, didn't you?" he smiled, satisfaction evident all over his face. Sonic glared at him. Tails had said not even a machine could tell the difference between real and fake – he knew the game Eggman was playing. He opened his mouth to challenge him, but Tails spoke first.   
"So… how did you know it wasn't the real one?" he asked timidly.   
"Tails!" Sonic shouted in exasperation. Now they were really in trouble. Robotnik's grin grew even wider. "Because you just told me, fox boy!" he snickered.   
Tails grimaced and looked away from Sonic. He knew he'd goofed, and was ashamed to look at him. 

Robotnik smiled evilly at Sonic. "Now for a little space ride!" he told him. "The capsule clears the colony, BAM!"   
Sonic bashed his elbow against the glass, knowing he wouldn't be able to break it but trying anyway. Seeing that there was no escape, he gave his friends a last look. "I'm counting on you Tails!" he said, gazing at the fox who had been his partner for so long now. Tails stared back, unsure of what to do. A look of bafflement was on his face. "And Amy..." he said, turning to the pink hedgehog. Amy stared back at him in disbelief. Her hero? Defeated? It couldn't be! But more importantly - was he about to tell her what she'd longed to hear for so long? Sonic took one last look at her, and then said, "…take care of yourself." Turning back to Robotnik, he raised a fist as if to go into a fighting stance, no fear evident on his face. "Do your worst!" he said. Robotnik nodded. He'd expected no less of his enemy. Anyone else would have fallen to their knees and begged for mercy. Not Sonic though. Of course, it made little difference. Even if the hedgehog had pleaded for his life, he would not have spared it. "Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!" he bidded him, then pushed the button. As the capsule shot into space, the last thing that Sonic heard was Amy cry out his name in alarm. 

*****

Sonic looked around at his surroundings hastily. He refused to believe that the Eggman had beaten him. He would not accept defeat. Glancing at the time bomb at his feet, suggested otherwise though. Looked like Eggman had the better plan this time around. He looked around again. There had to be some way out! Something he could use to escape! But the only things in the capsule were himself, the timb bomb, and the fake Chaos Emerald, useless now. Or… was it? He picked up the gemstone and remembered what Tails had told him about it.   
"It has the same wavelengths and properties, but is less powerful than the real one!" he had said.   
"The same wavelengths and properties…" Sonic mused. "But… can I do this?" He glanced down at the readout on the bomb's red LED readout. He only had seconds left to find out. 

*****

An explosion lit up the darkness of space. "So long Sonic, my admirable adversary!" Tails heard the Eggman say, a look of nostalgia evident on his face. Amy fell to the floor in a blubbering heap. "SOOOOOONIC!!!" she wailed, sobbing helplessly. Then the fox found that the evil doctor had turned his attention back to him. "Now, we have some unfinished business to take care of," he announced, pointing the laser blaster at him now. "If you give me the real Chaos Emerald, I'll release you both! You have my promise!" he grinned, giving his most honest look. Tails looked at him, and then down at the ground. What else could he do? They had no hope, now that Sonic was gone. He didn't really think that Eggman would keep his word… but what if he did? With Sonic out of the way, he and Amy were certainly no threat… 

A series of flashbacks flashed through Tails' mind. His first meeting with Sonic. Being taken in by the hedgehog. Training alongside him. Seeing him transform into Super Sonic for the first time. Taking out the Death Egg together. Meeting Knuckles. Then he saw himself, facing Eggman in Station Square. Racing him to the missile. And destroying the Egg Walker. He saw Sonic speaking to him, from behind a glass prison. "I'm counting on you, Tails…" he'd said. Tails looked up, finally thinking straight. "Sonic…" he murmured, then glared at Eggman and fired the Cyclone's laser blaster. 

Robotnik was taken by surprise – the laser blaster went flying from his hands. "Wha?!?" he asked, taken aback. He saw something in the fox's face that he hadn't seen before. Anger. A seed of doubt was planted in his head. The fox showed no signs of fear. No sign of wanting to run. Only to avenge his fallen comrade.   
"Sonic has asked me for the first time to do something for him!" Tails yelled. "I won't let him down! I won't give up!" 

**Chapter 11 – Hanging on the edge of tomorrow** 

Shadow gave the exploding capsule no more than a glance of mild curiosity. "I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all…" It was a shame that the overweight Overlander had killed him. He'd been hoping for that pleasure himself. A pity. Not to worry though. He had better things to think about right now than the fate of one deceased hedgehog, he was sure. 

*****

Robotnik regarded his enemy's apprentice coldly. "So. You refuse to surrender?" he asked rhetorically. Tails shook his head, and piloted the Cyclone forward a step. "Never!" he hissed.   
"Then prepare to join your buddy Sonic!" he yelled, and fired the Eggmobile's new weapon at him. Homing missiles. Tails was ready for them though, and the locked on laser blasts caused them to explode harmlessly before they got too close to him. In return, he locked onto the Eggmobile and took a shot. Eggman blocked his shots too, and they returned to the old game of circle and shoot that they played at Prison Island. Tails had an ace up his sleeve this time though – the crates he'd found aboard the ship that had brought him here. "I'm gonna show you how powerful my Cyclone is!" he yelled, and punched a button. From out of seemingly nowhere came a barrage of missiles. Robotnik's eyes went wide with fear, and his hand pushed a panic button. A green bubble-like shield came on around him, deflecting the deadly blasts. The doctor narrowed his eyes. "Those were mine! You stole the cargo I had on that shuttle, didn't you? You little cheater!"   
Tails glared back at him. "Cheater?!? Look who's talking!"   
"The Chaos Emerald shall be mine, fox boy!" Robotnik snarled. "My plans have almost reached fruition! The hedgehog is toast, and the cannon is going to fire in 22 minutes!"   
Tails shook his head. "I don't think so! I took out the power supply myself, Eggman!"   
Robotnik cackled at him evilly. "You little fool. You don't think that a weapon as powerful as the Eclipse Cannon would have a backup generator?"   
Tails growled. He didn't need to check – he knew that he was telling the truth. "Come on! Let's finish this!"   
Robotnik ignored him, and turned his attention towards a beeping on his systems. Hello, what was this? 

*****

Rouge stared up at the Chaos Emeralds happily. They were without a doubt the prettiest gemstones she had ever seen. "Legend has it that when all seven Chaos Emeralds are gathered, the power creates a miracle!" she smiled to herself, walking towards the pillar that held the shining jewels. "Now, I have six of them! They're mine! All mine!"   
"I don't think so!" said a scornful voice from behind her. Rouge swiveled around to see a familiar black hedgehog leaning casually against the doorframe. "Shadow!" she gasped. She was in trouble now, and she knew it.   
"So, that was your plan all along, was it?" Shadow asked, walking towards the bat. "Or was it a direct order from the President? Now I know who you are! You're that government spy Rouge the Bat, aren't you?" he accused, pointing at her angrily. Rouge held back her panic. Her cover was blown, that was for sure. But that didn't necessarily mean that it was all over for her. She still had one more roll of the dice.   
"So you did your homework, is that it?" she frowned. "I'd call that an invasion of privacy!"   
Shadow glared at her. "I could say the same of you," was his response. He knew that she'd been using the main computers here.   
Rouge refused to accept defeat. "It looks like things aren't quite working out for you," she said, referring to the invading Sonic and friends. "But my job's done, so I thought I'd take what I'd earned and get out of this place!"   
Shadow shook his head pityingly. This girl didn't seem to realize when it was all over. "You are one pathetic creature!" he told her.   
"And I could say the same of you!" Rouge retorted. Time to play her wild card. From her backpack she pulled a printout from the computer that she had obtained earlier. "Here I have the results on the project called the Ultimate Lifeform." She pointed to the picture in the top right corner, which displayed a creature of some sorts. It was blurry and hard to make out due not only to its blurriness but also its size. Without a doubt though, the picture was certainly not of Shadow the Hedgehog. The sheer size of it alone made that very clear. It almost looked reptilian. 

"But…" Rouge continued, cocking her head to one side, "…if this is a picture of the Ultimate Lifeform, codenamed, 'Shadow,' then just who… or what… is standing in front of me?"   
Shadow glared at her. He knew exactly the answer to that question, but he didn't care to tell her it. As the two stood there, regarding each other coldly, a call came over Shadow's walkie talkie.   
"This is Dr. Robotnik!" it said excitedly. "The seventh Chaos Emerald is as good as mine! Shadow, someone is trying to get to the Eclipse Cannon! There's not much time left – can you stop them?"   
"Affirmative," Shadow answered, then turned back to Rouge. "If you want to live, then leave the Chaos Emeralds where they are," he threatened her. "The fake emerald is good enough for you."   
Rouge called after him as he headed for the door. "Do you honestly believe that you're the real Shadow?" she asked.   
"No doubt," Shadow replied, not hesitating at all.   
"Even your memories may not be real, you know," she pointed out. Shadow halted. He obviously hadn't considered that possibility.   
"Even if my memories are not real, it's still me… Shadow…" he told her. "And I will fulfill my promise to Maria. That is all that matters to me now." 

Shadow left the room, but Rouge had seen the doubt on his face and the less confident step in his stride. She had at least slowed him down a little. Rouge ran to the pillar and placed her hands on the purple Chaos Emerald to remove it. The jewel emitted a small burst of static electricity at her – just enough to make her squeal in surprise and fall backwards, tumbling over the edge of the ledge. This time she grabbed the edge though, and pulled herself back up. It was no use. She was unable to remove the Chaos Emeralds from where they sat. "Now what do I do?" she asked herself. 

*****

Knuckles had been working to find a door that would lead him back inside the ARK when it had happened. He had sensed some strange energy fluctuating nearby him, and turned to his left to investigate. All of a sudden, there had been an intensely bright flash of yellow energy, and a blue form appeared in midair, about a foot off the ground, and dropped to the floor, not moving. Knuckles pulled his hand away from his eyes when the light faded, and recognized the person that had materialized in front of him. "Hey, Sonic!" he called, running over to his unmoving friend. Was he…? No wait, he was breathing. Phew. Then he groaned and tried to get to his feet. Knuckles helped him up, trying to make sense of the hedgehog's murmuring. "Whoa… wasn't sure if I could pull that one off… somehow I managed to use the Chaos Control…"   
Knuckles looked at him in confusion. "Chaos Control?" What was that? It was then that Knuckles noticed the glowing yellow jewel, still in Sonic's hand. But wait… there was something wrong about it… it seemed not to contain as much power as the other Chaos Emeralds. This was a fake! A million questions ran through Knuckles' head, but he asked the one that seemed most important. "Are you okay?"   
Sonic shrugged him off and attempted to stand without support. "I'm worried about Tails and Amy! I hate to ask, but could you help them?" he asked, regaining his balance. "This is our last chance!" His eyes went away from Knuckles, and into space. Eggman had nearly got him that time. He was going to show him who was boss now! But… how? The fake emerald was supposed to go with the others, in the pillar of the cannon. He should have thrown it in when he had the chance… but then he'd be dead now… but wait, he couldn't have been fooled into the trap without the fake emerald… Sonic put his hands to his head. He needed a plan – and quickly! He could machinery coming online – there was only a few minutes left before the cannon fired again! Sonic sighed and peered out at the ARK. Visible in the distance was the needle-like "nose" of the underside Robotnik face, which made the cannon. There was a complicated series of platforms, rockets and rails leading from where he and Knuckles stood now to the cannon. At least, it looked like it would lead there… it was a chance he's have to take. He looked at the jewel in his hand. Yes. It would work. "I've got it!" he exclaimed. "Before the cannon fires, I'll slam dunk it in there!" he yelled, a vengeful look in his eyes. 'Payback time, Eggman!' 

Knuckles watched his friend run to the end of the platform, then leap onto a railing and grind down it. Scratching his head, he wondered if Sonic was in a stable mental state. Judging by his behaviour, Knuckles thought otherwise. 

*****

Sonic landed on a platform and looked up to see how he was progressing. Pretty good, he was almost there now. The platform he was on seemed to go on forever though – it was like a ridiculously long gangplank. Could he make it in time? 

A voice behind him cut into his thoughts. "You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog," said Shadow, stepping forward to walk beside him. "I thought that the capsule you were in exploded in space."   
Sonic shrugged. "Well, you know, what can I say? I die hard!" he grinned, walking in sync with Shadow. He pulled out the yellow jewel to show him. "You actually saved me, you know," he informed him.   
Shadow's eyes went wide. "It WAS a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? But…" The implications of this made no sense to him. "But… there's no way you could activate the Chaos Control using an emerald that's fake!" he spluttered. Sonic just raised and eyebrow and smiled, then started to jog towards his target destination. He was working on a deadline, after all. 

Shadow wasn't about to let him go that easily though, and jogged alongside him. "So, there's more to you than just looking like me! What are you, anyway?" asked the black hedgehog.   
"What you see is what you get!" the blue one grinned. "Just a guy that loves adventure! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" That was enough though. This conversation, as far as he was concerned, was over. Revving up his legs, Sonic ran forward. He had to get to that cannon. Looking to his side, he was surprised to see Shadow still keeping up, now skating across the ground! On sneakers?!? Weird! "I see," he replied, making it quite clear that their conversation would be over only when he saw fit. "But you realize that I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end!" he said menacingly.   
Sonic glared at him. He was having trouble keeping his patience with Shadow. He didn't have time for this! "Alright Shadow," he growled. "It's time for me to finish this!"   
Shadow smirked at him cruelly. "Foolish blue hedgehog. You think you know the true power of Chaos Control? I'll show you otherwise!" he yelled. 

Shadow leapt at Sonic, who rolled into a ball and used a spin dash to speed ahead. Shadow barely kept his balance, and took a step backwards to avoid toppling over the edge. He glared after Sonic, then revved up a spin dash of his own and continued the chase, this time charging Sonic with a homing attack. Sonic saw it coming just in time, and counteracted with his own homing attack, knocking both of them backwards. Both hedgehogs grabbed the edge of the platform though, and swung themselves back up. "Leave… me… alone!" Sonic panted, raising a fist. "I've got a world to save!"   
"Never!" Shadow declared, leaping at him again. Sonic jumped too, and the sparring hedgehogs again connected in midair. This time though they weren't using homing attacks or anything, so they simply fell back to the ground, wrestling each other with a deep loathing. A knee in Sonic's stomach here, and elbow in Shadow's face there. Shadow thrust both his hands around Sonic's neck, and Sonic beat them off by hitting them with the jewel in his hand. Then there was a loud rumbling, and both hedgehogs looked up to see the platform collapsing, piece by piece. 'Now this takes me back to my Death Egg days…' Sonic thought, then the section they were trying to get to their feet on fell, and Sonic and Shadow plunged into space. Sonic tried to grab at Shadow, but he was too far out of reach. Sonic looked into the fake emerald he still clutched, and desperately yelled out, "Chaos control!" 

In a flash of yellow light, Sonic disappeared, only to reappear on the end of the platform he'd just fell from, much closer to the cannon. He looked down over the platform, scanning the depths for his rival. But there was no sign of the black hedgehog anywhere. "Game over, Shadow," he sighed, with mixed emotions of satisfaction and regret. 

*****

Tails had had enough. "Are you going to come out and fight, Eggman?" he yelled at the doctor, who was still hiding under his bubble-shield.   
"Not until you hand over the Chaos Emerald!" Robotnik yelled back, quite comfortable where he was. He had no desire to face those missiles again. 'We'll just have to fire with six of the Chaos Emeralds,' he thought to himself. It would do plenty of damage, after all. The test run on the moon had proven that… 

The doctor's eyes snapped open, as he for the first time considered the power of the cannon. If that was the devastating effect that six Chaos Emeralds had, then what would the laser be capable of with all seven? "A weapon capable of destroying an entire planet," he remembered Shadow tell him. He shook his head in disbelief. No. Shadow wouldn't do that. There must be a low-power setting that it could be switched to. The seventh Chaos Emerald was only to allow immediate recharge. 

While Robotnik contemplated all this, Tails lost his temper. If the Eggman wanted to play dirty, then fine. Flipping a switch he screamed, "ION CANNON, FIRE!" The doctor looked up just in time to see a large laser beam burst from the front of the Cyclone and come straight at him. It burst the bubble-shield, and struck the Eggmobile dead on, disabling its systems and shorting out circuits. Robotnik fell out in surprise and landed on the floor painfully, lying face up. "My back…" he groaned, attempting to struggle to his feet. Gravity made this difficult though, due to his obese body. 

Tails screamed, "Yesssss!" and pumped his fist victoriously in the air, turning to grin at Amy. Amy hadn't paid any attention to any of this though, and sat on the floor, mourning the hero she idolized so. Tails took one look at her miserable face, and Sonic's departure came rushing back to him. One of Mobius' greatest heroes had died today, in the fight for freedom. Climbing out of the Cyclone and looking down at the walkie talkie in his hand still, he whispered, "Sonic, I did it." 

Tails nearly leapt out of his skin in surprise when the reply came almost immediately. "Awesome job, Tails!" said a voice that he would have recognized anywhere. "Sonic!" the fox exclaimed, heart leaping in joy. He was alive! Amy looked up, confusion written all over her face.   
"Look outside!" the voice over the walkie talkie said. Amy and Tails exchanged looks, then ran to the window. In their haste, they failed to notice their enemy right himself, and creep towards where Tails had left the Cyclone standing. 

"Look!" Tails yelled, pointing to a rail below their observation point. Amy peered down and cheered as she saw the blue hedgehog grind down it, the fake Chaos Emerald held tightly in his hand. He waved up at them before the rail took him out of their sight. "Yeeeeeaaaah! Go Sonic!" Amy whooped. Tails grinned happily and turned back to his enemy to gloat… only to see that he was gone. The fox blinked in confusion, and looked around the room. A nasty thought occurred to him, and he ran over to the Cyclone. Oh no.   
"Hurry Sonic!" he yelled into the walkie talkie. "He's got the last emerald!" 

*****

The glass cover slid aside, and a very happy Dr. Robotnik cackled as he tossed the final Chaos Emerald into its waiting spot. A yellow glow filled the room for a moment, and the glass cover slid back into place. "At long last!" he cried. "Now begins the glorious era of Eggman!" 

*****

Sonic looked above him from his vantage point, hanging from an antennae below the ARK. He saw the cannon's nose-like covering whirr, split into four, and slide out of the way to reveal the nozzle of the mega-weapon. 'I've only got one chance at this,' he thought, gritting his teeth as he watched the blue glow beginning to appear. He had to do this just right. 

Sonic reeled back his arm, and tossed the fake emerald upwards… 

*****

Shadow shimmied up the last of the cable, and then swung over to a nearby platform in relief. The blue hedgehog had almost got him that time. He looked over at the cannon to see a small yellow object fly directly into the nozzle. The cannon attempted to fire, unsuccessfully. Explosions rippled upwards through the machinery, rendering it useless. Shadow swore as he watched the covering slide back into place, over the cannon, his hatred of Sonic elevated yet again. No matter. He may have destroyed the cannon, but that would not stop the revenge scheme that had been set in progress. Nothing could now. The blue hedgehog and his friends were in for a nasty surprise, when the backup plan went into effect… 

*****

Dr. Robotnik stood in front of the pillar containing the Chaos Emeralds, laughing madly at the destruction he was sure was about to be unleashed, and blissfully unaware that on the computer screen, a red "DANGER" message had appeared, taking up the whole screen… 

TO BE CONCLUDED... 


	3. The aftermath

sasa

**Chapter 12 – The works of yesterday**

Big looked around him in confusion. "Where am I?" he wondered. The large cat stood on a round platform in the middle of a round room, which was surrounded by a moat of a strange yellow liquid. There was no doubt about it; he was well and truly lost. Oh well. Since he was here, he might as well make the most of it. Attaching a fresh lure to his hook, he wondered if there were any interesting kinds of fish in the water… 

*****

"What's wrong?" Robotnik exclaimed, his happy smile quickly fading as he noticed the danger message on the screen. "Why won't the cannon fire?!?" Text box after text box appeared, bringing up all sorts of 401's and other error messages. "What… what's happening here?" the Eggman spluttered. This couldn't be happening! Not now! Not in his moment of triumph! Not after all his hard work! He looked up just in time to see the holes that the Chaos Emeralds were sitting in widen, and the seven jewels vanish from sight. "No! Come back!" he screamed. His ranting came to a sudden halt though, as a video file opened and started playing on the screen. The doctor gasped, recognizing the figure in the picture immediately. "It's my grandfather…" he whispered in awe. "Professor Gerald Robotnik…" 

*****

Sonic and Knuckles ran into the research lab, and were greeted warmly by Tails and Amy. Amy threw her arms around Sonic's legs and hugged them with every last ounce of strength she possessed. "It's really you!" she cried, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. "You're alive!"   
Sonic smiled patiently as he pried her off himself, then looked up as a loud and large rumbling rocked the entire space colony, almost knocking everyone over.   
"What… what's that vibration?" Knuckles asked, waving his arms around, trying to maintain balance.   
Sonic was about to answer when he heard the noise of approaching footsteps. "Wait… someone's coming!"   
Sonic had barely uttered the words when Rouge leapt into the room, looking all around in a panic. Knuckles frowned. "You!" he yelled. Was she after his emerald again? "You haven't given up yet?!?"   
Rouge regarded him with only sadness and regret. "It's all over for us…" she sighed, looking down at her boots.   
Knuckles was confused by this. "What are you talking about?" he asked, moving towards her.   
Rouge looked up to make eye contact with him. "I just got a call from my boss," she explained. "The space colony ARK is currently approaching Mobius at an incredible velocity. It… probably will impact Mobius…"   
The Mobians all regarded each other with horror. "My god…" Tails gasped.   
"Yeah! It sounds like the plot of a bad movie!" Sonic cracked.   
Knuckles was the first to notice the video start up on the computer screen in the room. "Hey! What's that on the screen?" he cried. 

*****

The video played on screens everywhere on Mobius. In Robotropolis, Snively fell to his feet in a quivering heap. On the non-Floating Island, the Chaotix regarded their fate with sadness. In Station Square, people ran around in a panic. Some even rioted. The video clip even reached the old rusting computer that sat in Knothole Village's lab, which had never seen a Pentium processor. "Sally!" Rotor yelled, running to the door. "You better take a look at this!"   
The Princess sprinted into the hut and started to say, "What is it, Rotor…" but stopped, when she saw what his eyes had viewed. On the screen was a short, bald Overlander, with a bushy moustache. Was it Eggman? No, he was a little taller… and much more overweight… and not quite that old. This one appeared to be in his seventies or eighties… and he was chained to the chair that he was sitting in. There was all sorts of writing in white chalk on the wall behind him – endless calculations, theories, and diagrams. 

Sally was just in time to see him start talking. "This is a death sentence for everyone on Mobius," the man declared. "If my calculations are correct, then the space colony ARK should impact the planet in 27 minutes, 53 seconds. All life will cease to exist, along with your beloved planet Mobius!" 

Sally and Rotor looked at each other in horror, and raced outside into the daylight, scanning the skies. "There!" Rotor gasped, pointing upwards. Sally looked, and saw it. At the moment it was nothing more than a black dot in the sky, but it was growing larger, and closer. The two looked at each other again. "I'll ring the warning bell," Sally sighed. Rotor nodded and ran off to rally the Freedom Fighters that were out on patrol. Sally looked up at the sky again with a sense of impending doom. Where were Sonic and Tails when she needed them? 

*****

Sonic and Tails were with Knuckles, Amy and Rouge in the main research facility, watching the rest of the videoclip.   
"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge once all the seven Chaos Emeralds are gathered," the man continued. "Once this program is initiated, it can not be stopped or deactivated. All you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me will feel my loss and despair!"   
There was a slight pause then another voice sounded, one from behind where the camera must have been situated. "Is there anything else you'd like to say?" it asked.   
The little man glared at the camera. "No."   
"Ready!" the invisible voice yelled out, then there was a burst of static and the screen went blank. After a second, the video started up again. "This is a death sentence for everyone…" the little man started up again. Tails pushed a button on the console, and the image froze.   
"What's going on here?" Amy asked in despair. "Who is that man?!?"   
Before anyone could reply, the ARK shook again, much harder this time. "The vibration's getting worse!" Knuckles noted.   
Tails studied the screen. "Look at all the calculations on the wall!" he exclaimed. "This guy must have been a scientist or a mathematician or something!"   
Amy peered at the wall on the screen, and realized that she'd seen it before. "Hey! Isn't that the same writing that was on your cell wall, Sonic?" she asked.   
Sonic looked up at it in surprise. "Yeah… I think it is…" he murmured.   
Knuckles looked thoughtful. "Was it just me, or did that guy sound like he was giving his last testament?" The others all stared back at him blankly. "If that tape was much longer, then I think we would have seen an execution," he explained.   
Rouge scratched her head. "Well, based on all the evidence, my guess is that that must be…"   
"Professor Gerald Robotnik, the leading scientist of his time!" a voice behind them interrupted. Everyone turned around to see their enemy standing before them. "And my grandfather," Robotnik added.   
Knuckles clenched his fists in rage. "I knew you were behind this!" he snarled. "Stop it right now, or else I'll…"   
Robotnik interrupted him again. "You fool. I'd have already stopped it if I could!"   
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, also clenching his fists.   
The doctor regarded him coldly. "Pretty persistent for a hedgehog, aren't you?" he asked. "You're still alive, huh?"   
Sonic had to smirk at that, "Hah! Just letting Knuckles pilot the shuttle on the way over here was more dangerous than you could ever be!" he laughed.   
Robotnik growled, then changed the subject. "To answer your question, were you paying any attention to the late professor at all? He just said that the program couldn't be deactivated."   
Sonic shook his head. "No way Eggman! I'm not giving up! We've gotta be able to do something!"   
The doctor considered this. Maybe there was a way? He thought about the possibilities as he handed a floppy disk to Rouge. "What's this?" she asked, accepting it and slotting it into the disk drive of the computer.   
"This is my grandfather's diary. I think the last few entries may interest you…" he explained.   
Text started appearing on the screen, filling up line after line. Rouge read it out aloud. "I don't quite know what happened or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the Ultimate Lifeform? I thought it would be something that would benefit all of mankind, but then the military troops landed on the ARK that day. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter Maria, I hope you are all safe." 

Rouge paused as she waited for the next entry to boot up. This was quite a chilling experience for all in the room. They could practically hear the old man in their heads, saying the words that he had written long ago. "The experiment was shut down, probably to keep the prototype from falling into the wrong hands. The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Maria's name along with those that had died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me, and I couldn't bear that she had died because of my research! I became scared as I could no longer control my thoughts. All I could think about was to avenge her, some way! I lost everything! I had nothing more to live for! I went insane! All I could think about was that I wanted it all to end…" 

"Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project, Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect… pure… I will live everything to him. If you wish, awaken him to the world! If you wish to fill the world with destruction…" Rouge stopped. That was the end of the diary. "So that's why you released Shadow from the base!" she exclaimed, turning to Robotnik.   
The doctor paid her little attention – he was still thinking. "The core of the Eclipse Cannon is now highly reactive," he told his enemies. "If the ARK hits Mobius, then the planet will shatter just like my grandfather predicted." Robotnik shook his head. Not even HE wanted that. "That mad scientist!" he spat out.   
"That should be you, right?" Amy asked timidly. Robotnik ignored her.   
"We have to stop the space colony now!" Tails exclaimed. They couldn't take this lying down!   
Robotnik nodded. For once he agreed with the pesky little fox. "The ARK's position has changed from where it was originally orbiting. This is because the energy given off by the Chaos Emeralds has shifted. We have to stop the energy!"   
"But… how?" Tails wondered. "Sonic used the fake Chaos Emerald to destroy the cannon…"   
Robotnik glared at the hedgehog. So that was why the cannon hadn't fired! "Rendering the cannon useless must have been what started this horror!" he exclaimed. That meant that this was a back-up plan, in case something went wrong! Shadow's plan had been to destroy the planet all along! He'd been duped! 

Knuckles caught the look of betrayal on Robotnik's face and smirked. "How's it feel to be the one that was used?" he asked with a warm feeling of satisfaction. He'd never quite gotten over how the Eggman had fooled him years ago. Robotnik just turned away. Rouge suddenly snapped her fingers and turned to Knuckles. "That's it! There is a way to stop the energy! We have to use your emerald!" she exclaimed. Knuckles looked blank for a second. "You're the one who said that the Master Emerald has the power to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"   
Knuckles caught on, enlightenment showing on his face. "Yes… you're right!" he said, checking his satchel to make sure the jewel was still there. "If I use this, I may be able to stop the Chaos Emeralds!" 

Tails was already at the computer, bringing up info on the ARK. "Oh no!" he gasped. "The reaction of the Chaos Emeralds is heading for the cannon's core! It may be too late!"   
Robotnik stepped forward. "There may still be time, if we all pull together!" he announced. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge all turned towards him. "You expect us to trust you?" Knuckles asked incredulously. "This is another one of your tricks, isn't it?"   
"Listen echidna," Robotnik growled. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we don't have very many options here. If I die today, then I can't defeat all of you tomorrow. We either join forces, or all of Mobius will perish."   
Sonic sighed. The Eggman had a point. "This stinks worse than last week's chilli dogs," he grunted. "But you've got a deal, doc. What's your plan?"   
"We have to get to the core and use the Master Emerald to stop the energy," Robotnik told him. "Tails, can you find the quickest way there?"   
"Way ahead of you," he replied, already searching for possible routes. Then something showed up that confused him. "That's odd… this looks like a shortcut to the core. But it wasn't there before…"   
Sonic looked up at the screen. "Hey, that's where I ran past Big before!" he realized. "He must have found a secret door and got in."   
"Think we can make it in time?" Rouge asked.   
Sonic gave her a thumbs up. "No worries!" he grinned. "I'm the world's fastest hedgehog!"   
"Then let's get to work!" Robotnik yelled, walking over to the Eggmobile. He looked over at Tails questionably. "Is this thing going to work?" he asked.   
Tails nodded as he climbed into the Cyclone. "The ion laser's effects should be wearing off by now. You'll be able to drive it, but it'll take another few minutes for the weapons systems to come back online," he explained.   
Amy looked up at Sonic as the group headed for the door. "What do you want me to do, Sonic?" she asked.   
Sonic sighed, knowing the pink hedgehog would just get in the way. "Look Amy…" he said. "I don't think you could really be of much help here. You're better off if you just stay here and wait."   
Amy looked away. She was being left behind again. 'One day,' she vowed. 'One day I'll show Sonic that I'm able to help…' 

*****

Tails hit the firing button, and took out yet another swarm of the annoying G.U.N robots. They were really beginning to get on his nerves by now. Looking at his surroundings, the young fox found himself in a narrow corridor. The door that he wanted was at the other end, after two weight traps that were constantly rising into the air and slamming into the ground. Tails made some quick calculations, and gritted his teeth as he realized that there was no way he'd be able to get under the traps and out of their way before they came down on top of him. If he hadn't of been in the Cyclone, then that would be another story. He exchanged looks with Eggman. "Any ideas?" he asked. Robotnik nodded and pointed at a switch hanging from the wall that the door was situated in. "That's a time stop switch. If we flip it, it'll shut down all the robots, lasers and traps in the area temporarily."   
"How temporary are we talking here, doc?" Knuckles asked.   
The scientist scratched his bald head and fiddled with his computer. "This is just an estimate, but I'd say no more than 5.8 seconds."   
Sonic nodded. "Okay guys, be ready." The group all prepared themselves as they watched Sonic study the pattern of the weight traps, then rush under them as they began to rise into the air, and grab the switch. The weights, having reached their maximum height, paused in mid-fall, and Tails, Rouge, Knuckles and Robotnik all safely proceeded to the next room before they bashed into the ground again. 

The next room contained a complex series of revolving platforms, weight traps and laser grids, but with Sonic pulling on another time stop switch, the group of five made it to the main platform in the room, where a large doorway was blocked off by a slab of rock. "We'll need to destroy that security door," Robotnik told the group.   
"I got it," Tails replied, and started firing the bazooka at it. Chunks of rock started crumbling from the force of the powerful weapon. Without warning, a group of robots that had been hanging from the roof, and thus been undetected by the invaders, jumped down to attack, the time switch's effects having worn off. One landed right in the cockpit of the Cyclone, practically on top of Tails. The fox yelped in surprise and nearly fell out of the Cyclone, but recovered and started bashing at the robot with his twin tails. "Get out, you big doof!" he cried in desperation, as the confused robot started shooting lasers at everything it saw. Knuckles came to the rescue and smashed his fist through the bot whilst Sonic, Rouge and Robotnik took out the remaining ones in the room.   
"You hurt?" Knuckles asked, shoving the broken droid to the floor where it collapsed in a sparking heap.   
Tails shook his head. "Only my pride." Then he realized that smoke was coming out of the Cyclone. "Oh no!" he cried, and rushed to stabilize the damaged systems. A few button presses later the smoking receded, but the damage remained. "What's the scoop, T2?" Sonic asked, walking over.   
Tails sighed. "The main weapons systems took a pretty big hit. I'm going to have sit this one out, you guys."   
"Are you sure?" Rouge asked.   
Tails nodded. "The damage is repairable, but I better not push my luck and try to continue on to the core. You guys go ahead – I've got you through the first security door, at least."   
That much was true at least. The slab of stone that had blocked their way had crumbled mostly, and Knuckles was easily able to smash the rest of it out of the way. He, Rouge and Robotnik immediately headed through the doorway and further into the ARK, but Sonic paused for a moment to shake his partner's hand. "You did good, pal," he said, smiling kindly.   
"Thanks Sonic," Tails smiled back. "Good luck!"   
Sonic grinned at that. "Who needs luck when you've got talent?" he asked, turning around to follow his comrades into the depths. 

*****

Robotnik had taken the lead for the next step in the journey, shooting down attacking robots until he had gotten them through another security door. That door out of the way, the group had stepped into a round room, where the center platform was surrounded by a moat of some yellow type of liquid. In the center of the platform stood a large switch, covered by what appeared to be a glass capsule. "What's that do, Eggman?" Sonic asked, nodding towards the switch. The doctor tapped at his keyboard and brought up the info he needed. "That switch will open that door over there," he announced, pointing to a door built high into the side of the room. "It will open up a mechanical dam that is preventing this room from filling with the yellow liquid."   
Rouge paused. "So… we don't want to flip it then?" she asked hesitantly.   
Robotnik sighed. "I'm afraid we don't have much choice." He pointed up high at a hole in the roof. "The final security door is up there. Flooding this room appears to be the only way we can reach it."   
"Great!" Sonic exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, exasperated. "Want to give us some more bad news while you're at it?" he asked.   
"Not really, but I have some anyway," the doctor replied. "Tails' ion cannon blast seems to have done more damage than I realized before. I'm going to have to turn back for repairs too."   
Knuckles groaned. "So how are we going to get through that last security door?"   
Robotnik pointed up towards an open doorway in the wall, which was protected by laser grids. "If my calculations are correct, then there is a switch to open it through that passage." Then he turned and made a hasty retreat. 

Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge watched his departing form, then turned to look at one another. "Soo… any ideas guys?" Sonic asked.   
Knuckles looked thoughtful, and considered their options for a minute. "Okay, here's what I think. Rouge, if you can find the switch that will open the capsule, then we can fill the room with water. Then we find the switch that'll turn off the lasers – it's probably up near the security door. The room'll be full of water, so I'll have to swim down the passageway to the switch."   
"I could do that…" Rouge suggested.   
Knuckles shook his head. "We don't know how long the passageway is. You could be underwater for five or so minutes. You'd never make it. I've got an oxygen tank though," Knuckles told her, patting his air necklace.   
Sonic nodded. "Knuckles is right. Quick! Go find that first switch!"   
Rouge nodded too, then started climbing one of the pillars surrounding the capsule, as she'd spotted a time stop switch at the top. 

Sonic nudged Knuckles, turning his attention away from her. "So what do I do, Knux?" he asked the echidna.   
Knuckles turned back to him. "Once that security door's open, you go through and clear the path to the core. I'll swim back from the switch and follow you."   
Sonic nodded grimly. "Okay, but don't dawdle. We're running out of time here!"   
Sonic had barely uttered those words when the capsule in front of them opened, leaving the switch exposed to them. Knuckles grinned and flipped it as Rouge glided back into sight. The doorway in the wall opened, and yellow liquid started pouring into the room. "What do I do now?" she asked, landing beside them. Sonic had the answer this time. "I don't think there's much else you can do to help here. Go back to the research lab and keep an eye on Eggman. He might try something against Tails or Amy."   
Rouge looked like she was going to protest, but after a few second's thought, she decided against it and ran for the door that had lead them into this room. Big, who had been unnoticed by the group the whole time they had been there, jumped off the pillar he'd been sitting on and ran after Rouge, afraid that the rising water would soon follow. Sonic and Knuckles regarded each other in confusion, then shrugged. "Let's finish this," Sonic said as the liquid made its first contact with their feet. 

*****

Amy paced back and forth, feeling helpless. "I hate it when they leave me behind!" she whined in frustration. Well, at least there was no-one around to take her hostage this time… then she saw the black hedgehog on the opposite side of the room, staring out the window at Mobius. "Look… it's Shadow!" she said, then remembered that she was alone in the room. But… why wasn't Shadow helping the others? Did he want to die? How awful! Maybe… maybe she could help him? 

Amy thought for a minute. "I've really gotta stop whining," she realized. "Everyone's trying their best to help out, and so must I!" She ran over to Shadow and grabbed at his arm. Shadow noticed, but didn't react. He just continued to stare out the window. "Shadow! We need you!" Amy exclaimed. "Please help us!"   
Shadow shook his head. "It's all going according to plan," he said, not really to Amy, but to the depths of space. "There's no reason for me to help them. Besides, there's no way to save anyone."   
Amy shook her head. She wasn't giving up on him that easily. "There has to be!" she exclaimed. She had to restore his faith in humanity! "I know that people fight over the most trivial things. Some people may be selfish, like the Professor said… but they're basically good! If they try their best and never give up on their wishes, they always have a reason to be happy! That's why you should help them – saving them is a good thing!" 

Shadow turned to Amy, a look of confusion on his face. This girl just didn't give up, much like the bat girl hadn't. But… there was something to her words… something… he remembered… Amy stared right into his eyes. "Shadow, I beg you!" she cried. "Please do it for them! Give them a chance!" 

*****

Shadow's gaze never left Amy but all of a sudden, he couldn't see her any more. Her words had unlocked a barrier in his mind, and now he found himself standing in the same room, but in the center of it, gazing at Maria. A glass barrier and eternity separated him from his only friend as he for the third time watched her die. This time though, he could recall what she had said perfectly. "Shadow, I beg of you!" she had gasped. "Do it for me – for a better future! For all the people on that planet! Give them a chance… to be happy… Let them live for their dreams…" 

Shadow looked down at his feet as he heard the clicking and whirring that signaled that the escape pod was about to leave the colony. "Maria!" he called, one last time.   
"Shadow… I know you can do it…" Maria continued, trying to stop herself from falling unconscious, as she knew that she would never wake up. "That's the reason why you were brought into this world!" she looked up, into the black hedgehog's eyes. And Shadow looked straight back, gulped, and nodded. What else could he do? Then the capsule blasted away, and she was gone forever. But her dying words stayed in his mind as if they were carved in stone. "Sayonara, Shadow… the Hedgehog…" 

*****

Amy realized that Shadow had woken up. He had sort of conked out for a second there. His eyes darted all over the room. He remembered everything now! "That is the promise I made to her," he murmured, a single silver tear rolling down his cheek. "And I must keep that promise. It's what Maria wished for."   
Amy stared at him in confusion and took a cautious step back. "Shadow…?" 

Shadow looked at Amy and remembered. The ARK! The backup plan! He had to get to the core and help the others! A look of horror came across his face as he remembered what guarded the core of the cannon. Oh no! The others were in danger!   
"I have to go now!" he yelled as he ran from the room, grabbing a bracelet that was hanging on the nearby wall as he went. "I have to keep my promise to Maria! …and you!"   
And then Amy was alone again. 

**Chapter 13 – Live and learn** 

Sonic stood at the entrance to the core, stunned. He had just arrived seconds ago, but the sight that had awaited him had caused him to stop and stare. He looked up to see Knuckles jump down to meet him. His jaw dropped too when he saw the sight. There was what looked like a small temple at the other end of the room, with steps leading up to it. It had no walls, only stone pillars holding the roof in place. There were another seven pillars surrounding the temple, on each of which a Chaos Emerald sat. "What's that?!?" he gaped in astonishment. "It… it looks just like the shrine of the Master Emerald!"   
Sonic nodded as he felt movement come back into his limbs. "They probably designed the core like the shrine, so that it would harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds," he guessed. Knuckles looked doubtful. "That would mean that the Professor must have known about the Floating Island though…" he started, but Sonic was already running towards the circular platform in front of the shrine. He made a good point – they didn't have time to discuss the ARK's architecture. Knuckles ran forward to, but he stopped just like Sonic did as an image of Professor Gerald appeared before them. "All you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me will feel my loss and despair!" he hissed, as energy started to fluctuate all over the room. 

"Knuckles, look out!" Sonic cried as the energy formed a large ball of light in front of them. Both of them jumped backwards as the light faded, and a huge creature dropped into the hole in the center of the round platform, roaring angrily. It looked like a monstrous lizard, like a dinosaur or something. It walked on four legs, and had shades of blue-green and orange on its scaly skin. But it wasn't entirely artificial – pipes came out of its mouth, connecting to a blinking red life support system housed at the highest point on its back. This creature was biomechanical, like Shadow! Knuckles was the first to make the connection. "Could this be the prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform, that was supposed to be encapsulated?" he wondered.   
"I've got an even better question," Sonic said, making a face. "How do we get past it?" 

A voice from behind them answered that question. "Leave this one to me," Shadow ordered, walking forward to meet the Biolizard's cold gaze. The creature glared at him, snapping its immense jaws. He knew this creature. And he did not like him.   
Sonic stared at the black hedgehog that he thought had died from a fatal fall through space. "Shadow, what are you doing?" he asked.   
Shadow looked back at him and smiled. Sonic couldn't contain his surprise – it wasn't a smile of anger or a sneering smirk. This smile showed friendliness behind it! Had Shadow had a change of heart?!? The Biolizard didn't give him time to comprehend this, as it snapped at Shadow, who jumped aside just in time.   
"I'll take care of this, while you run to get the Chaos Emeralds!" he yelled, skating away from the creature's mouth, around the platform. 

*****

Shadow looked back at the Biolizard as he skated to prevent becoming a morsel for it. 'I know my opponent's weaknesses, being its successor. Physical wounds are fleeting – his immortal flesh begins to close over as soon as it's cleaved, due to that life support system, which is powered by the Chaos Emeralds. I'll have to modify my tactics, to suit my foe.'   
Shadow saw his chance when the Biolizard stopped to catch its breath. He quickly ran towards it and leapt at its head, landing on the pipe coming from its mouth and grinding up it the life support system. Shadow jumped, and delivered a homing attack to the red blinking light. 

Biolizard howled with pain, its hatred for Shadow growing larger by the second. Pulling its head around, it resumed its chase after the black hedgehog. Shadow skated away again, but this time when the Biolizard paused to catch its breath, he started spitting out black energy balls at Shadow. The hedgehog was ready for this though. He looked down at the bracelet around his wrist, which had a ruby embedded in it. It was a flame bracelet, called such for a good reason. Shadow somersaulted under the first energy ball, glowing with a red hot heat as he did so. Then under the next he went, and the next. Then there were a few that came at him low, which he jumped over. All the while, he was getting closer to the Biolizard's mouth, until he was able to jump onto the pipe, grind up it, and score another direct hit on the life support system. 

Again the Biolizard howled, and again it started firing the energy balls at it. After another two unsuccessful attempts to hit Shadow with these, and suffering another hit on his life support system, Biolizard tried changing his style. After trying the energy balls again, he lifted his head up and roared, summoning a group of glowing orbs to attack Shadow. Shadow ducked as one shot over his head, and looked at Biolizard. His head was too high in the air – there was no way he could possibly reach the pipe from there. Maybe he wouldn't have to though… Shadow aimed a homing attack at the nearest orb, bounced off that and homed in on another one nearby, slightly higher up. Rising into the air in this fashion, Shadow was able to gain the necessary altitude to deliver another blow to the Biolizard's life support system. Biolizard was furious. It chased after Shadow with energy balls and orbs again, but Shadow still managed to evade his attacks and smash the life support system a sixth time. Weakened but not yet defeated, the Biolizard cut off the gravity in the core, sending Shadow, the orbs, Sonic and Knuckles all flying into the air. Sonic and Knuckles saw their chance and floated past the Biolizard towards the shrine. Shadow still had a prototype to deal with though. The orbs were floating around the Biolizard, making it extremely difficult to reach the life support system. 'Difficult,' Shadow noted. 'But not impossible.' Shadow carefully navigated his way between the orbs, making sure his arms or legs didn't accidentally brush up against one as it floated past. It took about a minute of twisting and turning, but Shadow eventually found himself floating above the Biolizard's broad back. The black hedgehog delivered a final homing attack to the life support system, cutting off its power from the last Chaos Emerald. The Biolizard howled with pain, and its long neck and head fell to the ground with a painful thump. The gravity came back on, and Shadow landed in front of the defeated beast. "Yeah! Get out, you ugly prototype!" he cheered. He was quite proud of himself. He'd done good this time. 

*****

"The servers are the seven chaos," Knuckles chanted, placing the Master Emerald in the center of the shrine. "Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the chaos."   
Sonic watched in silence. He'd heard those words before – when he'd traveled to the past and seen the echidna girl Tikal neutralize Perfect Chaos, who had absorbed the power of the emeralds. It worked then, so it should work now. The Master Emerald glowed with power, reacting to Knuckles' incantation.   
"Only you can do this! Stop the Chaos Emeralds!" he cried.   
Sonic and Knuckles jumped back as green lightning bolts struck out from the Master Emerald, one hitting each of the Chaos Emeralds sitting on the pillars. All seven emeralds glowed green for a few seconds, then returned to their normal colours. The two grinned at each other. They'd done it! 

A loud roar of anger from behind them wiped the smiles from their faces though. They turned around just in time to see one very unhappy Biolizard rise into the air, then vanish in a flash of pale blue light. "Is it gone?" Knuckles asked in confusion.   
Shadow leapt up the stairs to join them. "Is that what Chaos Control is?" he wondered aloud. 

Just then, the vibration came back into the ARK, rocking it much harder than it had before. This time the three were unable to remain standing, and fell over. Knuckles looked around in surprise. This didn't make any sense!   
"Since we've stopped the Chaos Emeralds, why is the colony still on a crash course to Mobius?" he asked. Sonic and Shadow stared back blankly. They were just as clueless as he was. Their answer came from Robotnik, who had managed to find a PA system that ran all around the ARK. "The prototype is still alive, and is controlling the space colony as it's falling!" he yelled. "He's become one with the space colony, and is determined to keep it on its collision course!"   
Shadow was surprised. He hadn't known about THAT failsafe. He stared at Sonic and Knuckles helplessly. What could do they do now? Knuckles realized in an instant. "Sonic!" he yelled, nodding at the pillars surrounding the shrine. Sonic caught on immediately. "Oh yeah!" he grinned. "Wanna give me a hand?"   
Knuckles shook his head. "I'd love to, but I'd better stay here and make sure there isn't anything else in the core that'll try to destroy us. Maybe someone else would like to though…?"   
Shadow turned to Sonic. "What are you talking about? Do you have a plan?"   
Sonic smiled at him. "You want to see the true power of the Chaos Emeralds?" he asked. 

*****

Knuckles stood back and witnessed quite a display of power. Sonic and Shadow threw a hand each into the air, summoning the Chaos Emeralds to float down from where they sat to hover around the two hedgehogs. The jewels glowed with energy, and began to fluctuate their power into the two. Sonic and Shadow brought theirs fists down in front of them and shook them hard, letting the energy flow into them. Had Amy or Tails been present, they would have burst into a fit of giggles at what it looked like they were doing. (Anyone who's played Sonic Adventure 2 knows what I'm talking about. ;o)) Knuckles had to bite his lip to prevent himself from grinning and breaking their concentration. The emeralds disappeared, and Sonic and Shadow leapt into the air, their usual colours of blue and black replaced with gold and silver. Knuckles stared in amazement, not at his long time ally (he had been witness to the Super Sonic transformation before), but at Shadow. The black furred hedgehog had been like an agent of evil, a bearer of darkness, since his release. Looking at him now as he glowed in a silver aura, he resembled not one who was going to bring about the destruction of Mobius, but rather one who was a guardian of it, who would protect it at all costs. Without warning, Sonic and Shadow disappeared. Knuckles had been so lost in his musings that he hadn't even heard them yell, "Chaos control!" 

*****

Sonic and Shadow were not alone as they whistled through the depths of space. The screen in the main lab was functioning perfectly, and Robotnik, Tails, Amy and Rouge were watching their progress. As the hedgehogs approached the Biolizard from either side, who had attached itself to the in-operational cannon by its rear, they heard the words of the Eggman through the PA system. "Can you hear me Sonic? Shadow?" he asked, although there was no way he could have heard them reply. "He's very weak without his life support system. Aim for the red swelling area to defeat him! You're our last hope!"   
"What swelling area?!?" Shadow yelled. From his side, he wasn't able to see any such thing. Sonic however saw it at once – a huge, swollen boil on the side of the Biolizard. "I see it Shadow!" he yelled back. "Keep him busy while I hit it!"   
Shadow nodded, and soared towards the Biolizard, zooming around his head. Meanwhile Sonic shot through space, towards the boil. It was surrounded by the same glowing orbs that Shadow had faced only minutes ago, which Sonic had to dodge through to smash it. And he did. The prototype screamed in outrage as the boil disappeared from Sonic's sight. "Shadow! Did it come over to your side?" he yelled.   
"Yes! I see it!" Shadow yelled. "Leave it to me - I'll destroy it!" Then he shot off towards it. Sonic flew down to the Biolizard's face and started flying circles around it to distract him. The prototype snapped at him, trying to defend itself from Shadow at the same time. "Where does it get all this power?" Sonic wondered as he evaded the massive jaws. "Is this the power of the Chaos Emeralds?" Looking up, he was just in time to see a laser bolt come out of the Biolizard's side and strike Shadow seconds before he could attack the swollen boil. Shadow was thrown backwards quite a way, disorientated. "Shadow! Are you okay?" Sonic yelled. 

Shadow righted himself, nodded, and sped towards the Biolizard again. This time he started making evasive moves when he closed in, so when the Biolizard fired another laser, it missed him by quite a way. Shadow belted the boil, which immediately disappeared from his sight as the owner of it howled in pain again. Shadow pumped his fist victoriously, then looked up as Tails' voice came over the PA. "Sonic! We're in danger!" he yelled. "Atmosphere entry in about four minutes!" Shadow looked down for the first time and realized just how close they were to Mobius. "Crud!" he muttered, then looked for the boil. It appeared to have gone over to the other side again. "Now it's up to you Sonic!" he called. 

Sonic nodded and yelled back at him. "Shadow, take a rest! Let me give it a try!" Sonic grimaced as he sped through space. That laser blast looked like it had hurt. He was worried – he'd never shared the energy of the Chaos Emeralds with anyone… well, except for when he'd fought Perfect Chaos. The serpent had absorbed the negative power of the emeralds, forcing him to power up with the positive energy. But that hadn't been too bad, since Chaos was the one who had gone down. But sharing the power of the emeralds with a friend was something else. What if they weren't quick enough? What if they used up all the power? Sonic shook his head. He didn't have time to worry about these things. They had less than four minutes to take out the prototype, or else Mobius was history. Sonic sped forward in zigzags, so that he was able to avoid getting hit by the laser blast, and scored another direct hit on the swollen boil. It switched sides as the Biolizard screamed yet again. "Yeah! Take that!" Sonic cheered. "Shadow? You okay?" he called, signaling the silver glowing hedgehog. 

Shadow ignored him and charged at the Biolizard again. "Here I come, you creep!" he yelled, zigzagging forward like he had seen Sonic do. He scored another hit against the boil before the laser hit him, throwing him backwards. He righted himself and pretended not to notice. "Sonic! How are you doing?" he yelled.   
"Almost got him!" Sonic yelled back, speeding forward yet again. He risked a look down as he went, which made him grit his teeth. Mobius looked closer than ever. Looking back up, he dodged just in time to avoid getting hit by not one, but two laser beams that were coming right at him! Rouge seemed to know that he needed some encouragement right about them, and her voice came over the PA. "Can you hear me Sonic, Shadow?" she asked. "Everyone here is rooting for you! Good luck, and give him trouble!" 

Sonic did just that, striking the fifth blow against the boil. Time to switch attackers again. "Shadow, be careful!" he yelled. "The prototype's got a second laser cannon armed!"   
He wasn't fast enough though. He'd barely uttered those words when the Biolizard fired the lasers. Shadow was able to dodge the first, but not the second, and was shoved far backwards yet again. The hedgehog grit his teeth and clutched his arm. He'd felt that one. 

Sonic noticed this. Uh oh. His invincibility was starting to wear off. He'd been afraid of that – Shadow wasn't used to using his Super Shadow powers. "Shadow!" he yelled. "Your power's getting weaker! Are you okay?"   
Shadow nodded and sped forward again. He would make the horrible creature pay for that one. This time he managed to get past both lasers, but before he could hit the boil, a field of glowing orbs appeared around it. Shadow again had no time to take evasive maneuvers and was flung backwards quite a way. He yelped as he tried to right himself. He was hurting all over now. Shadow wasn't sure he could take much more. 

Sonic had seen his friend take another hit and got really worried. He couldn't last much longer out here. "Shadow!" he called. "Your super form'll wear off at this rate! Hurry and get back to the colony!"   
Shadow groaned and started to nod, but before he did, he noticed the ARK was beginning to glow a hot red. So was the Biolizard – it roared with pain, but kept on target for Mobius. This was what stopped him from returning to safety. That, and a desperate voice over the PA: "Can you both hear me? The ARK is close to Mobius! Please, hurry up!" 

Amy! He couldn't let her down! A new determination filled Shadow, and with speed he had never imagined possible, he thrust forward in a silver blur and dished out a final hit on the Biolizard. The prototype screamed in agony, lifting its head… then dropping it. The monstrosity that had once been the ultimate lifeform was finally defeated. The energy of Shadow's attack had flung both him and Sonic down, right outside the barrier of the planet's atmosphere. They both grinned victoriously, and exchanged a high five. "Did he really think he had a chance?" Sonic laughed, grabbing Shadow's hand. Shadow shook it firmly. "I must destroy all the evil the Professor has created," he added.   
Sonic chuckled. "Well, I think you can rest easy now pal," he grinned. Shadow looked up, and his smile vanished instantly. "Afraid not… look!" he exclaimed. 

The ARK was still coming, right towards them. The Chaos Emeralds had been stopped, the Biolizard had been defeated, but now the planet's gravitational pull was bringing the space colony in. Sonic swore. "No way that's getting through!" he declared. Shadow nodded, and they both flew upwards in glows of blue and yellow. As Shadow sped towards the incoming ARK, he could have sworn he heard a voice echo inside his head…   
"Shadow… I beg of you… give them a chance… to be happy!"   
"Maria!"   
"Now Shadow!"   
That voice hadn't been an echo. Sonic was thrusting his hand out at him. Shadow reached out, nearly touching his new friend's glove. A ball of yellow energy formed, growing outwards from their outstretched palms. "CHAOS CONTROL!" They both yelled. At that second, two things happened. The first was that the ball of energy grew to gigantic proportions, and surrounded the entire ARK, which froze in mid-fall. 

The second was that Shadow, whose super powers were growing weaker with every passing second, lost his ability to fly. 

Shadow, still glowing silver, took the ARK's place in falling from the heavens towards Mobius. Sonic gasped in horror and flew towards his friend, reaching for his still outstretched arm. Almost… had him… Then the chaos control took effect, and Sonic and the ARK both disappeared. Shadow shut his eyes. "Maria… this is what you wanted right?" he whispered. "This is my promise, I made to you." 

There was a purple flash of light, and Shadow too was gone. 

*****

People rejoiced all over Mobius as the ARK resumed its normal orbit of the planet. None was more relieved than Princess Sally in Knothole though. "Thank you Sonic," she whispered. "Just come home to me safely." 

*****

"Where's Shadow?" Rouge asked. Sonic sadly looked up at her, Robotnik, Amy, Big, Tails and Knuckles as he entered the room. The look on his face said it all, but just to emphasise his point, he unclenched his fist, and gave the item he held in it to Rouge. The red ruby of Shadow's bounce bracelet sparkled as she turned it over in her hand. Oh man. Shadow… 

"Do you really think the Professor created him, Shadow, to carry out his revenge on all of those who lived on Mobius?" she asked, strapping the bracelet around her own wrist. Sonic shrugged and turned away, towards the window. "He was what he was," Sonic sighed. "A brave and heroic hedgehog, who gave his life to save his planet. Shadow the Hedgehog."   
Rouge nodded and turned to look out at Mobius too. "I guess you're right," she murmured. 

Robotnik looked over at Tails thoughtfully, and continued the conversation they'd been having. For one of his enemies, he actually wasn't that bad to talk too. "As a child, I looked up to the Professor, and all the great things he accomplished," he explained. "He was my hero, and I wanted to be a great scientist like him! But… did he really mean to destroy us?" he wondered.   
Tails shrugged. "I don't know. But what I do know is, we all did it together!" he cheered.   
The doctor smiled at him. "You're right. But if you think this means I'm giving up my evil ways, you have another thing coming."   
Tails frowned at him. He'd had a faint hope that all this horror would have turned him, but apparently not.   
"Well then, you better be ready to run when we get off the ARK, Eggman," he grunted. "Because I don't think you can fight all six of us off at once."   
The doctor nodded. "It was a pleasure working with you, while it lasted," he said, then turned around and headed for the door. Both he and his enemies would live to fight another day. 

Knuckles turned away a little as Rouge came over to admire the view from his window. He was slightly ashamed of himself for the way he'd treated her. After all, she had helped him get some of the Master Emerald pieces back. She'd only been doing her job.   
"So what's next for you, Rouge?" he asked. "Off again to find those jewels you love so much?"   
"Naaah," Rouge replied, shaking her head. "I think I'm gonna give up that line of work. Too much work for too little pay." After pausing for a moment, she added, "Anyway, I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now…"   
Knuckles turned to her. "Oh? What's that?" he asked.   
"It'll all work out. You'll see," she smiled.   
"Knuckles smiled too. "If you say so," he replied, a faint tone of amusement present in his voice. 

Sonic stared out the window at the planet he'd just helped save, deep in thought. "Create… the ultimate… lifeform…" he murmured. What had Shadow's real purpose been? Had he managed to achieve it?   
"What's the matter, Sonic?" a voice behind him asked, interrupting his musings. He turned around and smiled at Amy. "Oh, it's nothing," he assured her. "Come on, let's go home! To the planet that's as cool and blue as me!"   
"You mean as big and round as Eggman!" Knuckles grinned, heading for the door. Tails, Big, Amy and Rouge all laughed as they left he room, but Sonic stopped in the doorway to take a final look at the place that had once been his fallen comrade's home. "Sayonara… Shadow… the Hedgehog…" he whispered, waving halfheartedly as he exited the room. 

**Epilogue – A place where you dreamed you'd never find** 

Sonic looked around him in wonder as he took in the sights of the Green Hill zone. 'This is where it all started,' he thought to himself. 'This is the place where I made my first stand against Robotnik, ten years ago. Wow…. Has it really been that long?' he mused. He looked over his shoulder to see Tails and Knuckles looking around too. The Green Hill zone was one of the most beautiful places on Mobius, and one of the few locales that had avoided the toxicating effects of Robotnik's touch. Mostly, anyway. A lone Crabmeat and a single Buzzbomber was all that the three had had to destroy upon reaching this place. 

Sonic glanced at his friends. "Are you sure this is the place?" he asked them.   
Tails nodded. "The computers says that the emerald should be right here, in this field," he announced. Knuckles nodded. "I can definitely sense the energy of a Chaos Emerald nearby…" he said, then sighed. "I just don't know where…"   
Sonic sighed. His discovery of only having six of the Chaos Emeralds in his possession after leaving the ARK had brought them to this place. Knuckles was going to send them back into the special zone, where the forces of evil wouldn't be able to get to them, and fuel such destructive things like the Eclipse Cannon or Perfect Chaos. But if they couldn't find the emerald, then how would they do that? 

A blaze of purple light interrupted Sonic's unhappy thoughts as hedgehog, fox and echidna alike all covered shielded their eyes from the intense energy. When the light faded, there was a large surprise waiting for them. Sitting on the ground, looking rather dazed, was a black hedgehog, who was grasping the purple Chaos Emerald.   
"No way…" Sonic breathed. "Shadow?!?"   
The black hedgehog stood up and brushed himself off. "I don't know of any other black hedgehogs as cool as me, do you?" he asked, a faint smile visible on his lips.   
Tails blinked. "We… we all thought that you were dead!" he exclaimed.   
"Well, I did shout out, 'Chaos Control,' didn't I?" Shadow pointed out.   
Sonic nodded, grinning. "I'm glad you're okay pal."   
Shadow smiled and tossed the Chaos Emerald to Knuckles. "So am I, actually. I realized something – my promise to Maria isn't fulfilled yet. As long as Eggman's tyranny remains present, then people can not live in peace. So, I still have a lot of work to do," he shrugged, holding out his hand. Sonic nodded firmly, and extended his own hand. The two shook. 

And so it was that the three most well known and beloved heroes of the planet gained a fourth ally to join their ranks. 

**AUTHOR'S NOTES** 

For those of you that haven't actuallu played Sonic Adventure 2, I better clear something up right now. The epilogue doesn't happen. In Sonic Adventure 2, you can access the Green Hill Zone if you earn all 180 emblems, but you don't get Shadow back at the end. So it leaves the big question - did Shadow die? That, for now, remains unknown. I guess we'll have to wait until Sonicteam makes another game to find out. Somehow I don't think Sonic Advenace will answer anything. 

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my first Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, based on Sonic Adventure 2. If you want to now read a great telling of the first Sonic Adventure game, then I would highly recommend NetRaptor's "The Epic Adventure." And, if you'd like to see Sonic in a more humerous role, then you might want to check out the sprite comic that I'm doing. You can find it at www.geocities.com/kylegonjinn/adventure. 

Well, that's all from me guys. Thanks for reading! 


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